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PROVO, UTAH
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8RIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSE? v
PROVO, UTAH
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THE
THEORY AND PRACTICE
LANDSCAPE PAINTING
IN
WATER-COLOURS .
ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF TWENTV-SIX DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS IN COLOURS,
AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS.
BY
GEORGE BARNARD,
PROFESSOR OF DRAWING AT RUGBY SCHOOL; AUTHOR OF “FOLIAGE AND FOREGROUND DRAWING,” “SWITZERLAND,”
“ STUDIES OF TREES,” ETC.
LEIGHTON BROTHERS’ CHROMATIC PROCESS,
LONDON:
ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND ROUTLEDGE, EARRINGDON STREET.
NEW YORK : 56, WALKER STREET.
MDCCC LXI.
\
[The right of translation and reproduction is reserved .]
LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
, THE library
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
PROVO. UTAH
MICHAEL EARADAY, D.C.L. E.R.S.
ETC. ETC. ETC.
My dear Michael,
When I first undertook this Volume, your conviction that
it would prove a “real and useful Work ” encouraged me in its progress.
I much wished at that time to dedicate it to you, who from boyhood
have been my kind friend and adviser ; and I hesitated only lest it should
not prove worthy of your acknowledgment.
Now that it has met with approval, and a new edition is called for,
I feel encouraged to place your name on this page ; and to express in this
manner how sincerely we, who have the advantage of your intimate
friendship, recognise and esteem the qualities of heart which endear you
to us, and in comparison with which even your distinguished fame holds
but a subordinate place.
Ever your affectionate Brother,
GEORGE BARNARD.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
Chapter I. NATURE OF COLOUR
SECT.
I. PRISMATIC COLOURS 7
II. PRIMITIVE COLOURS AND THEIR COMPOUNDS 17
III. HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS .... 25
IV. INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION OF COLOURS 34
V. EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS 38
Chapter II. MATERIALS.
I. POSITION OF COLOURS ON THE PALETTE 49
II. DESCRIPTION OF PIGMENTS . . ^ 52
III. PAPER 61
TINTED PAPERS, &c .64
Chapter III. ON ELEMENTARY PRACTICE.
I. COMPOSITION 75
II. LIGHT AND SHADE 87
III. HANDLING OF THE BRUSH AND MODE OF WORKING . . . .113
Chapter IV. PRACTICE IN COLOUR.
I. SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS, &c 149
II. TREES 157
III. FOREGROUNDS 173
IV. BUILDINGS, RUINS, &c 181
V. ROCKS AND WATER 189
VI. AERIAL PERSPECTIVE 209
VII. MOUNTAINS, DISTANCES, &c 213
VIII. SKETCHING FROM NATURE IN COLOUR 217
IX. PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OR “ EFFECTS ” 229
X. FIGURES AND ANIMALS 243
XI. CONTRASTS OF COLOUR 269
XII. CONCLUSION 277
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE
I. Forest of Fontainebleau : Juniper Frontispiece
II. The Prismatic Spectrum to face p. 12
III. Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colours 21
IY. Harmonious Arrangement of Pigments ... 51
Y. Dugarry, Arran (Chalk Drawing on Tinted Paper) 67
VI. The Handling of the Brush 113
VII. Blotting-in (the Jung Frau) 121
VIII. Start Point 121
IX. Lake of Brientz 135
X. Table of Aerial Grays 153
XI. Examples of Foliage 162
XII. The Elm (First and Second Tints) 163
XIII. Table of Greens and Russets 169
XI V. Beech-trees 171
XV. Roofs, Buildings, &c 185
XVI. Rocks, Dartmoor 196
XVII. Waves, Study of 203
XVIII. The Staubbach 207
XIX. The Stelvio . . 235
XX. On the Dart (Twilight) 239
XXI. Melrose (Moonlight) 240
XXII. Returning from Market, Skye 246
XXIII. Contrasts of Colours 262
XXIV. Simultaneous Contrasts 264
XXV. Ditto 265
XXVI. Arrangement of Colours 272
LIST OF WOODCUTS.
PAGE
NO.
PAGE
1.
Heading (The Vorder See) ....
7
37. Example (Breadth : Dolbaddern) . .
104
2.
Diagram, fig. 1
9
38.
99
(Light and Shadow: Hall
3.
2
99 99 *
11
Sands)
106
4.
Heading (Bryony)
17
39.
99
99 99
106
5.
Diagram, fig. 3
19
40.
99
(Aerial Perspective : Uls-
6.
Initial (Convolvulus)
25
water)
107
7.
Vignette (Shell)
33
41.
99
(Light and Shade : Arran) .
108
8.
Initial (Signal)
34
42.
99
(Norham Tower) . . . .
108
9.
99
38
43.
„
(Near Dorking)
109
10. Breadth of Shadow (Rembrandt) . .
41
44.
(St. John’s, Tyrol) . . . .
109
11.
„ Light (Turner) ....
41
45.
„
(Trent, Tyrol) . . .
110
12.
Heading (The Moist-colour Box) . .
49
46.
99
( „ „ )
111
13.
Initial (Ivy)
52
47.
99
(Highland Sledge) . .
111
14.
Heading (Scroll, Poppy, &c.) . . .
61
48.
Initial (Vine and Swallow) . . . .
113
15.
„ (Glen Rosa, Arran) . . .
75
49.
Diagram
(Hatching and Stippling)
120
16.
Example (Composition : Loch Katrine)
78
50.
99
of Frontispiece (First Tints)
130
17.
„ (Composition : Ventimiglia)
79
51.
99
(Dappling)
135
18.
A Party of Pleasure, Arran ....
80
52.
Heading (Summit of Goatfell)
149
19.
Cross near Bolgano, Tyrol ....
83
53.
99
(Trees)
157
20.
Vignette (Borrow Lane, Kenilworth)
85
54.
99
(Foregrounds : Dock) . . .
173
21.
Heading (Loch Fine, Scotland) . .
87
55.
99
(Vale Crusis Abbey) . . .
181
22. Book, &c. (Cast Shadows) . . . .
93
56.
99
(Skelwith Force) . . . .
189
23. Example (Tint)
95
57.
Vignette (Fontainebleau) ....
198
24.
,, (Gradated)
95
58.
Initial (Water Ranunculus) ....
199
25.
99 99
95
59.
Heading (Glen Sligachan) ....
209
26.
„ (Cube and Ball) ....
96
60.
(Lang Kofel, Tyrol) . . .
213
27.
„ (Bust and Curtain) . . .
97
61.
„
(Moel Siabod, N. Wales) . .
217
28. Doorway (Cast Shadow)
98
62.
Vignette
(Burnham Beeches) . . .
228
29.
Window „
98
63.
Heading (Spring, Abinger) ....
229
30. Example (Breadth)
100
64.
99
(The Cottage-door, the Pets) 243
31.
„ (Opposition)
101
65.
Vignette
(Kenilworth Common, the
32.
„ (Dartmouth)
101
Gleaners)
252
33.
„ (Focus)
102
66.
Initial (Contrasts)
259
34.
„ (Cast Shadows: Abinger) .
103
67.
Diagram (Complementary Colours) .
263
35.
„ ( ,, Knole) . .
103
68.
»
( » « ) •
264
36.
» ( » „ ) • •
104
69.
Heading (The Captives)
277
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
rjlHE Eirst Edition of this work being exhausted, and the
demand continuing undiminished, it becomes necessary on
the part of the Author to consider in what way he can render
it more worthy of the success it has attained, and how far he
can comply with the requests of numerous correspondents
(known and unknown), who have shown their interest by
writing to him on the subject. It is, however, difficult to
satisfy all the demands or suggestions made for more explicit
lessons or minute instructions. Were some of these ideas car-
ried out, the whole nature and aim of the work would be
changed. The Author may remind his readers, that his object
was to give young Artists and Amateurs general information
of the natural philosophy of colour only so far as the art
required; but more particularly to explain, by the aid of
carefully selected examples, the manner in which water-colour
painters of the present day use their materials, and produce
their effects. It was not intended that the volume should
supersede the master, but rather aid him ; for, in the Author’s
opinion, neither books, however well written, nor lectures,
B
11
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION.
however eloquently delivered and illustrated, can equal the
power that an able master has in conveying instruction, with
a ready brush and explanations adapted to the wants and
capacity of each pupil.
But without multiplying useless plates, and thus increasing
the expense of the wrork, the Author has found that he can
comply with many of the requests for more detailed infor-
mation, by adding several new plates of a more simple cha-
racter. It is in these important points especially, that
difficulties hard to explain by words, or understand without
examples, are met with, so much depending on the way in
which a water-colour drawing is commenced, and so completely
are the simple washes lost or altered by the after-processes.
In this edition, the Author has replied to the questions of
some of his correspondents. It has also been considerably en-
larged, particularly in the Chapter on the Mode of Working ;
and being printed in a larger type, and with additional wood-
cuts, will be less difficult to understand when the student is
without the advantage of a master.
To this Third Edition but few additions or alterations
have been required, only two or three of the plates which
did not appear of much use to the pupil being withdrawn,
and the whole of the work reprinted with the greatest care
and attention.
/
8, Harrington Square,
/ Hampstead Road. N.W.
INTRODUCTION.
MANY excellent and elaborate treatises on the Theory of Colour, and
several works describing the practice of landscape-painting in
water-colours, are already before the public ; but to understand the former
requires much thought and patience ; and the latter, however practical,
rarely have the advantage of being accompanied by examples illustrative of
the artist’s meaning.
The object of the present work, therefore, is to supply that which the
author, in a long course of professional teaching, has found necessary for
the advancement of his pupils. The diagrams and illustrations introduced
are such as have been found most useful in elucidating the theory and
practice of colour in landscape-painting, and at the same time in diminish-
ing the labour of the pupil in acquiring this valuable and attractive art.
The student, with the view of fully impressing upon his mind the rules
given in the following work, should copy the illustrations ; and, when he
finds himself conversant with his materials, may proceed to the drawing of
subjects from nature, in accordance with the rules laid down.
The work will combine a summary of the natural philosophy of colour,
'so far as the painter is concerned, with an extensively illustrated exposition
of its practice in regard to the employment of pigments and other mate-
B 2
I
INTRODUCTION.
rials ; thus serving, in the absence of the master, to refresh the memory of
the pupil, and to explain remarks imperfectly understood during his lessons.
It will also form an introduction to the practical study of nature.
It is in nature that colour exists in its greatest beauty ; and to imitate
her, and represent that beauty, is the highest aim of art. Sir Joshua
Reynolds observes, that “he who recurs to nature, at every recurrence
renews his strength : the rules of art he is never likely to forget — they are
few and simple ; but nature is refined, subtile, and infinitely various, beyond
the power and retention of memory ; it is necessary, therefore, to have
continual recourse to her.”
It should be understood that the study of colour comes last in the order
of artistic education ; and those who take up this important branch must
have already acquired a good knowledge of linear perspective, the very
foundation of drawing ; and of the effects of light and shade, the chief
agents in embodying form, and giving it solidity. This knowledge once
attained, the attention of the pupil may be directed to colour ; until his eye
having been sufficiently trained to discriminate its properties with the same
ease and certainty with which it determines form and arranges light and
shade, he may proceed to combine all these powers in one subject.
Very erroneous ideas are entertained regarding the capability of the
mind to acquire correct perceptions of colour, and to realise them in artistic
effects. Too much is ascribed to genius, — too little to study and persever-
ance. Both the appreciation of colour and the power of expressing it are
doubtless attainable by education ; and, under proper direction, the laws
relating to harmony of colour may be as readily understood and practised
as those relating to perspective when representing forms without colour ;
the pursuit demanding nothing more than the general capabilities required
in the study of the latter. But the student who desires to attain excel-
lence, must devote his time and labour with that untiring energy which
a love of the art alone can excite ; he must be prepared to find that the
greater the progress he makes, the more evident will appear his distance
from perfection ; and yet, each time he takes a step in advance, he will feel
that he has already reaped a certain reward of his industry, and gained
another motive for perseverance.
INTRODUCTION.
Great care has been bestowed upon the illustrations of this work ; and
though mechanism can scarcely be expected to equal the immediate results
of the artist’s own hand, yet the author trusts they will materially assist
the student who refers to this volume in thoroughly understanding the
system practised by the English water-colour school.
By the careful and elaborate researches of many practical men, modern
artists have been spared much of the labour and loss of time experienced
by the old masters in the search after proper materials for their works ;
and the qualities of all pigments now employed having been minutely
investigated and accurately determined by Field, in his valuable work on
chromatography, to that work the student is referred for a more extended
view of their nature.
*
CHAPTER I
ON THE NATURE OF COLOUR
SECTION I.— THE PRISMATIC COLOURS.
ISI5P
HE wonderful robe of colour
which invests all nature when
under the revealing influence
of the sun’s rays — whether the lumi-
nary be shining in unclouded glory, or sending forth his
beams, scattered in a thousand directions, under a thou-
sand influences, as in the shades of a glowing evening,
or be chastened down to the graver tints, consisting of little more than light
and shadow — is an object of the highest admiration to all, but more espe-
cially to the artist. The ever-varying circumstances only increase his
admiration, and add to his delight ; and when, by careful observation and
8
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
much study, he has attained the power of imitating the forms presented to
his eye, and of representing the proportion of light and shadow on the dif-
ferent parts, he then aims at the triumph of his art, and endeavours to
clothe them in their natural colours. Great difficulties, however, present
themselves to him who desires to obtain this high object ; not merely in
the want of sufficient skill or mental appreciation, while he is rather an
aspirant to than a master of his art, but in the very condition of the case
itself, where a white surface and a few pigments are given as the only
means of representing the infinitely varied and changing lights and colours
of nature. It is indeed surprising to see, in the works of the great
masters of painting, how far the mind of man has been able to overcome
difficulties, and to succeed in producing representations which sometimes
charm almost as much as nature herself.
Being desirous of producing a useful and practical work, which shall aid
those who are attempting to gain the power of representing natural scenes
by means of water-colour drawing, I have thought that a short preliminary
consideration of the physical character of colour, and of the light which
renders it visible, might be of some service, inasmuch as it would supply, in
numerous cases, the principles which should guide the artist in his work,
and the details of the expedients by which he should endeavour to attain
his object. Further, it will at one time answer such thoughts and queries
as must arise in the intelligent mind of any one pursuing his vocation with
earnest devotion, and at another may suggest considerations which, being
wrought out, will aid his resources ; for the more the mind dwells upon
the correlated points of its chief study, the better will it be able to pursue
that study to a successful end. We will therefore consider briefly, and only
so far as the artist is concerned, the theory of colour: first, in respect to
the light by which it is developed ; and next in relation to the colour
of the object seen.
If the shutters of a room be closed, so that no light can enter except
through a horizontal and narrow opening on the side facing the sun, a
ray from that luminary passing through the aperture will fall upon the floor ;
but if a triangular prism of glass be held near the opening in the course of
the ray, in the position shown by the figure, the ray will be bent from its
PRISMATIC COLOURS.
9
first course, and take another direction, which will probably either cast the
light farther along the floor or upon the wall of the room. A sheet of
white card-board or drawing-
paper being then placed to
receive this ray, some very
interesting and important
effects may be observed. In
the first place, the original
narrow band of white light
on the floor becomes on the
wall a succession of bands of
the most varied and brilliant
colours. These, though they pass insensibly into each other, may be con-
sidered as an infinite number of lines of coloured light, arranged one after
the other, but all parallel to the original white band. This is called the
spectrum, and an attempt is made" in Fig. 2 to convey an idea of this ob-
ject ; yet, although the greatest pains have been taken with the delineation,
the result falls infinitely short in beauty of that presented by the experi-
ment. There it is seen (as Newton taught us) that the white light of the
sun can be separated into coloured rays ; and, what is more remarkable,
these different rays can, by being recombined, again form white light ;
for if a lens be held in any part of their course, so as to include them all,
and a sheet of white paper be held beyond the lens at its focus, these
coloured rays will be found to reproduce white light. If the paper be
taken away, or removed farther off, the white light will again be resolved
into the various coloured rays. By this experiment it is proved that the
white light of the sun contains in it all these coloured rays, and that they
are all again required to make up the original white light.
These rays are invariable in their tints, places, and proportions. Be-
ginning with those which are the least bent out of their original course,
Newton describes them as being — red (9), orange (5), yellow (9'2), green
(11-3), blue (11-4), indigo (8), violet (16T) ; and the extent which they
occupy in the spectrum very nearly agrees with the numbers here attached
to their names. But they are by no means of equal illuminating power ;
10
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the yellow and green being, for instance, far more luminous than the blue
or violet. The breadth of the spectrum is determined by the length of the
opening in the shutter ; and its length, taken across the colours, chiefly by
the distance from the aperture at which the white paper is placed.
It will at once be perceived that, in this experiment, the colours
rendered visible do not originate in the object looked at, but in the light
which falls on it ; the paper is white, and not one of the tints now pro-
ceeding from it are, under ordinary circumstances, presented to the view.
In common language, the colour may be said to be in the light ; and when
the light is once separated into its different coloured rays, then it is found
that these rays essentially differ from each other ; for no farther refraction
or treatment of any one of them, when so separated by passing through
a hole in a screen, can change it into any of the other rays, or alter
it in any manner : that is to say, though we may absorb and destroy it,
we can neither vary its colours or change its character. It is quite true
that we may combine these rays, and thereby produce different effects :
thus we can, by artificial arrangements, throw the blue and the yellow
rays on the same spot, and then a green colour is seen ; or we may, as
has been described, combine all the seven, and thus reproduce white light.
But the resulting white may be opened out again, or the compound green
resolved into its blue and yellow ; yet the original green of the spectrum
cannot be separated into blue and yellow constituents, nor can any one of
the rays in the spectrum, when perfectly separated from the others, be in
any degree subject to change in its colour. They are all true primitive
colours.
It has already been said, that the colours obtained by the experiment
are dependent more upon the rays coming from the source of light, than
upon the body looked at ; it may likewise be remarked, that no object or
pigment can present any colour to the eye, except such rays exist in the
light illuminating it as are competent to produce that colour: the rays
may for a time be mingled with others, but they must be there , or no
colour will be seen. With spirits of wine and salt we can prepare a light
producing little more than yellow rays ; then, if by such a light we look
at a purely red body (as, for instance, a piece of red morocco, or a bright
PRISMATIC COLOURS.
11
cherry lip), we see it without colour— that is, black : again, if by the same
light we look at a substance not purely red, as vermilion, or red sealing-
wax, we see it yellow ; for the power of the coloured ray governs the
power of the colour seen by it, and the latter therefore shows yellow only.
When we say that a ray is coloured, we are obliged to submit to the
imperfection of language. A ray is not in fact coloured, nor can any colour
be seen in it, from its origin to its termination, except by means of the
motes, or vapours, which are in its path ; indeed, strictly speaking, no sub-
stance can be said to be of any colour ; for it wants the action of light,
and of the particular light requisite to produce the specific colour, before
such colour can appear. That which is recognised as colour by the eye, is
the united effect of the substance looked at, and of the ray falling on its
surface. Having made the above reservation, the author does not hesitate
to use common phraseology, deeming it sufficient for the present purpose.
It may be as well to describe another way of observing the spectrum,
as it will enable the artist, if so inclined, to examine the colour charac-
teristics of the pigments which he employs. Let him place a sheet of black
paper without gloss, or a piece of black velvet, on the floor, in good day-
light, and on the middle of it a slip of white paper, or card-board, about an
inch and an half long, and one-third of an inch wide : then, receding about
ten feet, let him hold a prism of glass similar to that before mentioned,
in the position delineated in Fig. 2. Upon looking on the ground near
his feet, he will see the black background, and
on it the strip of white paper converted into a
spectrum ; i. e. the white light, passing from the
white object into the prism, will there be sepa-
rated into the different coloured rays, and these
will enter the eye arranged as in the spectrum,
and produce the effect desired. A partial spec-
trum of the same kind is often seen produced
by lustre drops, decanter stoppers, and other
forms of cut-glass, and is most beautifully
developed by a series of reflections and refractions in those drops of rain
which produce the rainbow.
12
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
In modern times many exceedingly minute investigations of the spec-
trum have been undertaken by Wollaston, Frauenhofer, Herschel, Brewster,
and others, and results of the highest interest have been obtained ; but,
though they are intimately connected with colour, they are by no means
essential to a work of this description, which is limited to the wants of the
artist.
Turning to the second part of our explanation of physical effects, we
will briefly notice those points relating to the nature of the object re-
ceiving the luminous ray ; and which, being made visible by it, appears
clothed with colour — according as its nature affects and changes the ray
of light. This object, or collection of objects, constitutes the picture viewed
by the artist, and of which he endeavours to give a faithful representation.
We will analyse it chromatically and briefly. Objects are rendered visible
by the light, which, first falling upon them from the sun or other luminary,
is by them reflected, and thus they become secondary sources of light. Sup-
pose a white surface, as of card-board, plaster of Paris, &c. ; it can send
back all the various coloured rays falling on it from the sun ; these rays
are seen in the spectrum, in which they are shown in their separated state
{vide Fig. 2) . Taking the ordinary case of the unseparated rays, the card-
board reflects all the various coloured rays as before, but mingled, and the
effect on the eye is white. That all the coloured rays proceed from the
card-board is proved by the effect described in the second mode of viewing
the spectrum, namely, by looking through the prism at a piece of white
paper on a black ground. But though all the kinds of rays are reflected
far more or less of each ray is extinguished and destroyed as to any power
of producing further illumination or colour ; and the rest, or that which
still remains radiant, is thrown about in all directions.
If less light fall on the white surface, its apparent whiteness will be
diminished, because less light is reflected from it ; diminish the light still
more, it becomes gray ; and with no light incident upon its surface, it
appears black, for it sends no rays to the eye. To illustrate this in another
manner ; suppose the illuminated surface to be that of a mixture of plaster
of Paris and powdered charcoal ; then, though the illuminating power be
ever so strong, the surface will appear gray ; much more of the incident
THE PRISMATIC SPECTRUM.
LEIGHTON BROTHERS
PLATE 2.
PRISMATIC COLOURS.
13
light being there extinguished, and consequently much less reflected to
the eye than before. If the surface he that of charcoal alone, then nearly
all the incident light is extinguished, and we have, as before, black. But,
in all these cases of extinction of light by the object, all the various rays
have been dealt with at once ; and, while any light remained to he reflected
from its surface, however deep the gray it may have presented, still such
gray has contained rays of all the colours, and these in due proportions for
forming white. Even a surface of the purest white that we can prepare,
quenches a considerable proportion of the light falling upon it ; and hence
arises much of the artist’s difficulty ; for there being nothing hut this im-
perfectly white surface with which to represent light, his representations of
it must fall infinitely short of the reality ; and yet, as regards his trees,
buildings, and other objects, his pigments are as bright in colour as the
objects themselves ; consequently, should he either endeavour to represent
a day or night scene, having the sun or moon as the only source of light
visible in the picture, or should he wish to introduce strong reflections, as
of the sun on the ripples of a lake, or desire to depict a rainbow, his most
finished production must become but a feeble imitation of the brilliancy of
nature.
This brings us to the consideration of those surfaces which, quenching
some of the rays of light, do not quench equal proportions of all the
coloured rays. Here we have the origin of the general colours of material
objects, and the representative pigments of the artist. These objects are
not distinguishable, as regards colour, by other senses than the sight, or by
other means than the rays of light. In the absence of light, green or
red objects are not distinguishable in colour from white: brought into the
light they are not white, because they do not reflect all the light which falls
upon them ; and they are not gray, because the portion of light which they
extinguish is not an equal proportion of each coloured ray. The green body
has absorbed more of the other rays than of the green, and hence, sends the
latter hack to the eye in excess, producing a green effect on the perceptive
organ ; and the red body, having destroyed more of the green and other
rays, sends back the red rays in excess, and hence its colour. It is as
though a partial analysis of the white light had been made by the different
14
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
coloured bodies, one sending off the green and another the red ray, in a
manner something analogous to that in which the prism sends off all the
rays.
There are very few pigments, or even natural objects, that are pure in
colour. Most of them reflect variously coloured rays. Yellow pigments,
for instance, reflect also red and green rays, as the artist will find, if, in-
stead of the white strip of card-board, he place on the black paper or
velvet a cake of his purest yellow, and look at it through the prism as
before. And this explains a point which might otherwise present some
difficulty, since no substance can manifest its colour to the eye, unless the
rays falling upon it be of the proper character : our colours, even those
called primitive, are not pure ; so that if a green or red light fall upon a
yellow body, instead of yellow it may appear either green or red, because it
can reflect, more or less, all the three colours ; for every ray, not absorbed
and destroyed by the body on which it falls, is sent back in the resulting
ray to the eye, to produce that final effect of which we are made conscious
by our visual organs.
There are both opaque and transparent colours. An opaque colour is
that which, having absorbed some of the coloured rays from the white
light, sends the rest back from its surface to the eye, at the same time
permitting none to pass through; a transparent colour is that which, having
absorbed some of the said coloured rays, allows the remainder to pass
through. Consequently, on looking at a well-illuminated surface of an
opaque red, we at once see it as a red substance ; but if we replace it by
a plate of red glass, we do not see that red until a sheet of white or red
paper, being placed beyond it, throws back the light, which finally has
passed twice through the glass. These transparent colours, like the others,
are only partial in their action on the rays ; and though they may transmit
one colour more easily than another, and so possess a particular tint, yet
scarcely one is known to transmit a ray of a pure and unresolvable colour.
When opaque colours are mixed together, to produce an intermediate
effect, their action is not the addition of light to light, as when two rays
fall upon the same place : on the contrary, they obscure each other ; for
if blue be added to yellow, to form a green, so much as the blue displays
PRISMATIC COLOURS.
15
itself, in the same proportion it hides and darkens the yellow ; and the
yellow, in like manner, hides the blue. It is well known by experience
that a considerable degradation or dullness of colour arises in this way ;
an effect against which the artist should carefully guard, avoiding it as
much as possible. When placing a transparent colour over an opaque one,
the physical effect is different in kind : for then the light, not being al-
together cut off by the colour above, is reflected by the colour beneath, —
deprived, however, of those rays which the transparent colour cannot send
back to the eye. Thus if an opaque yellow surface be covered with a
transparent blue, the light, before it reaches the yellow, is deprived of
some portion of its red and orange rays, and again of another portion on
its return from the yellow ; and hence a beam competent to produce a green
effect on the eye is the result. These physical principles have great in-
fluence on the practice of the artist, when, according to what his experience
has taught him, he selects opaque or transparent pigments either to give
body or to subdue his colours ; and though it is not, in this place, neces-
sary to enter more minutely into such matters, yet there can be no doubt
that the artist who, being equal in other respects to his contemporaries,
surpasses them in his knowledge of these principles, will not only possess
a greater advantage in the use of his agents, but will, in the exercise of his
talents, enjoy an additional and even a higher pleasure.
A water-colour drawing is the effect of very fine, opaque coloured par-
ticles, mingled with and sometimes overlaid by transparent colours ; which,
being disposed upon a white ground, so modify the light falling upon and
being reflected from that white surface, as to produce the effect constituting
the picture. In respect of by far the largest part of the picture, the mind
should be intent upon this idea, namely, of the light which is thrown back
by the paper to the eye ; and it should be as little injured in its character
of brightness as possible by the means taken to represent the forms and
colours of natural objects. Light and shadow must be there ; but there
are such things as clear shadows and dirty lights.
With regard to the pigments employed in the production of such
drawings, we have by no means a free choice, but are limited to the use
of those natural or artificial bodies, which, besides being powerful in their
16
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
production of colour, may be mixed, more or less, with each other, without
being subject to much alteration or decay, and also with water or gum,
without mutual chemical action or injury ; and, whether soluble or in-
soluble, may be applied with a brush. Hence one of the reasons why
pigments do not enable us to realise all the effects of nature : — we are
restricted by the very qualities of the substances we use.
Passing on to the practical part of our subject, we will now describe the
most important of these pigments, noting the circumstances and modes of
application which enable us to use them most effectually in our endeavours
to obtain truthful representations of the natural pictures presented to our
view.
ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 17
SECTION II.— ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS.
e
s
e
i
s
h.
e
1
\ and red and blue, purple. But red, yellow, or blue
cannot be obtained by any mixture of the other colours ; hence they may
be considered, in an artistic sense, as strictly primitive.
To these three primary colours may be added white and black : white,
as the representative of pure daylight in its undivided state ; and black as
that of darkness, or the absence of light. The three primaries may be
regarded as gradual transitions from one extreme to the other, both in
colour and luminosity ; thus we may pass from white, or positive light, to
yellow, the colour most nearly allied to it ; thence to red, the mean and
most important colour ; then to blue, the representative of space and
coldness ; and finally to the neutral black. The union of all the prismatic
c
18
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
colours, in their proper proportions, produces light or white; but the
same combination, and the union of the three material pigments best
representing them, gives a gray or black. We have previously demon-
strated, that the grayness or blackness of a substance arises from the
smallness of the quantity of white light reflected from its surface.
One black substance may appear comparatively white, when contrasted
with another of a still deeper shade. Thus a piece of black velvet, placed
in the sunshine, will appear black ; but if we throw a strong shadow across
it, the unshadowed portion will appear white or gray, and only the shadow
by comparison black. In speaking of white and black, considered by
artists as neutral (or the positive and negative extremes of colour), we
must remember that the true grays being neutrals are intermediate, forming
a link between the two extremes of white and black, as we have already
illustrated in the section on the prismatic spectrum.
Adopting, therefore, the artistic division of colours into three primaries,
our simplest course will be to give a brief description of their position and
qualities in the order they present themselves in the spectrum. We can
afterwards arrange them as we please in our experiments. The red rays
being the least bent out of their course appear at the end of the spectrum
nearest the place on which the undivided light would fall ; therefore of the
three primaries we shall commence with
RED.
This, the most powerful and distinct colour of the three, excites and
stimulates the eye, predominating in all colours which artists call warm.
It occupies a mean or middle position in the scale of colour ; for yellow
approaches nearer to light, and blue to darkness, while both tend to
produce a coolness of effect, as compared with red. Green is its accidental
or complementary colour.
YELLOW.
Yellow in an artistic view is the primary most closely allied to un-
ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS.
19
decomposed light, by the diffusing influence of which it is frequently
mingled with all the other hues. Its accidenta3_colour is purple, so that
a yellow sunset will admit of a purple distance; but should the yeUow
approach a golden or orange hue, blue may prevail in the sky and distance.
Notwithstanding this arrangement accords with the principles of accidental
contrasts, it would appear that yellow in nature is more generally con-
trasted with black than with purple, and that these contrasts have been
employed with success by Eubens and Turner. Yellow as a pigment is
not easily met with in a perfectly pure state, being generally combined
with red in various proportions. This addition increases its warmth, and
renders it more agreeable to the eye, without altering its characteristics ;
so that many such compounds are still called yellow. Any admixture with
blue at once changes its character from that of a colour nearly allied to
light, to one more closely associated with darkness.
BLUE.
Blue, being related to shade or darkness, is consequently retiring in
its character, imparting the same quality to all the hues in which it pre-
dominates. It is rarely seen pure in landscape ; but in the heavens we
find abundant compensation
for its paucity on earth. Con-
sidering, then, these three
colours alone requisite for our
present purpose, suppose we
arrange on a white ground
respectively (as represented in
Plate 3), three pieces of red,
blue, and yellow glass of the
same intensity of colour. Plat
glass vessels, filled with co-
loured fluids, will produce the
same effect ; and where the
primary coloured pieces cross each other three compound colours will be
c 2
20
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
produced, called by artists secondary colours ; thus yellow and red will
make orange ; yellow and blue, green ; and red and blue, purple. If each
strip of glass had consisted of two bands of the same colour, one darker
than the other, and been arranged with their darker edges towards the
centre, as in the accompanying diagram, the secondaries would have been
formed in different proportions as compared with the primaries. At 1, 1, 1,
the deepest colours are produced by the union of the greater intensities of
the red, yellow, and blue ; at 2, 2, 2, the intensities are equal, but of the
least degree ; while at 3, 3, 3, where a dark band passes over a light one,
the quantity of one primary colour in each diamond is exactly double that
of the other. Hence arises a fertile source of secondary colours, the
qualities of which will require a brief description.
OEANGE (YELLOW AND EED).
Orange, being the most luminous, is, on that account, the most striking
and prominent of the secondaries. It is the connecting link, or har-
monising colour, between yellow and red, and the accidental or comple-
mentary colour of blue. It has a great variety of tones ; but these cannot
be represented in a diagram, owing to the difficulty of printing such delicate
variations, and the limited power of machinery as compared with the
artist’s hand.
GREEN (YELLOW AND BLUE).
Green is generally considered as the mean between the other two
secondary colours, taking an intermediate position between light and shade-
It is remarkably distinct and striking in its effects on the eye, being at the
same time highly refreshing and soothing to that organ ; it is far more
prevalent in nature than any other colour, though seldom seen in its
pure and unmixed state. The green of nature accords well with blue,
being harmonised therewith by the warm purple and gray tones of the
atmosphere and distance. Nevertheless it is very doubtful whether a
picture, having a preponderance of green, is ever truly popular, or even
pleasing to the eye, however true to nature.
PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY COLOURS.
LEIGHTON, BROTHERS.
PLATE 3.
ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS.
21
PURPLE (RED AND BLUE).
Purple is the coolest and darkest of the secondary colours. It possesses,
in a high degree, the modest retiring qualities of the primary blue, with
which it is most closely connected ; and as the eye delights to dwell on
those colours which least fatigue it, perhaps purple may rank next to green
in the pleasure it affords. The varied purples, or warm grays, as the artists
term them, are of the greatest use to the landscape-painter, in harmonising
the aerial blue of the sky and distance with the richer tone of the fore-
ground.
To these six, i. e. the three primaries and the three secondaries, may be
applied the name of colours ; because with indigo (which artists scarcely
consider as a distinct colour, owing to its near approach to blue) they form
the seven prismatic colours of the spectrum.
THE TERTIARY COLOURS, OR PRIMARY HUES.
The tertiary compounds are hues composed of all the primary colours,
one of those colours, however, predominating. Eepeating the previous ex-
periment, substituting glasses of the three secondary colours, we obtain the
primary hues, as seen in Plate 3, fig. 2. The latter will evidently produce
a much less striking effect on the uneducated eye than the former ; and
this doubtless led Field to remark, that “to understand and relish the
harmonious relations and expressive powers of the tertiary colours requires
a cultivation of perception and a refinement of taste, to which study and
practice are requisite. . They are at once less definite and less generally
evident, hut more delightful, more frequent in nature, and rarer in common
art, than the like relations of the secondaries and primaries.”
They form by far the greatest portion of every landscape, modulating
and harmonising every scene. The attainment, therefore, of a just appre-
ciation of their beauties and infinite variations should he the constant study
of the artist. He who considers them as beneath his notice, or treats them
only as so many “ dirty tints,” as Barry calls them, can scarcely he aware of
the rapid degradation which takes place in all colouring so conducted.
22
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
As well might the musician consider playful and beautiful variations in
music as of no importance ; whereas they serve to relieve, refresh, and at
the same time to sustain the attention, and enable it to return with re-
newed interest to the simple melody or theme of the composition.
Howard, in one of his lectures, says : “ Colour of different degrees of
purity is scattered throughout all nature, cheering and delighting mankind
with a perpetual display of splendour and magnificence. This bountiful
provision of nature has the power of imparting a charm to things the most
trivial and otherwise unattractive, and thus furnishes the painter with ready
and inexhaustible resources for the embellishment of his subject, of what
kind soever it may be.”
Nature presents few of the primary colours to the landscape-painter for
his imitation ; such objects as birds, minerals, and even flowers, though
making the nearest approach to the primitive colours, are yet seen in por-
tions too small to have much effect on his picture. The artist may occa-
sionally give a dominant tone to his composition by a small portion of blue
in the sky, or of red in the dress of a figure ; but in nature the colours are
so blended, harmonised and diffused by atmospheric action, that to neglect
the tertiary degrees of the chromatic scale would either produce discord,
from want of a proper arrangement of colours, or monotony from their
deficiency of contrast.
Harmony in landscape depends more on the distinctly marked charac-
ter of these delicate hues than on the relative proportions or quantities of
the primary colours. In using them the greatest care is required in their
selection, and the greatest skill in their manipulation ; the difficulty of
adjusting all their minute variations being much increased by the necessity
for constant and simultaneous attention to the effects that light and shade
have upon these tints. The greatest masters have found ample scope for
the exercise of their genius and industry in their delineations of the
beauties of natural scenes, which, though depending essentially upon these
tertiary hues, and being constantly presented to our view, still never cease
to call forth the highest admiration of every lover of nature. That they
may be viewed under different aspects, and treated with different effects,
and still be ever charming, is proved by the productions of the most
ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS.
23
celebrated artists. Whether, like Turner, they revel in light, air, mist, and
sunshine, and with perceptive delicacy aim at expressing the realms of
space; or whether, after Ostade and Teniers, they repose on the quiet
neutral grays ; or, following in the steps of Rembrandt, they pass from
colours into the depths of shade, — one and all, adhering as they ought
to the truthfulness of nature, may equally command success.
Having thus called the attention of the student of landscape -painting
to the importance of the tertiary colours, or primary hues, we will proceed
to their description.
CITRINE (ORANGE AND GREEN).
A mixture of orange and green is called citrine, or citron, from its like-
ness to the colour of that fruit ; it is a dark, subdued, yellowish green, and
tolerably well represented by the pigment called brown jpink. It is more
nearly allied to yellow than to blue or red, being composed of yellow and
red, and yellow and blue. This colour is pleasant and cheerful, and, owing
to the predominance of yellow in its composition, approaches more nearly
to light than the other two primary hues. Thus it permits the painter to
modify the greens of the landscape ; and by giving them, in some degree,
the orange and autumnal tints, he can at once increase the quantity or
breadth of light, and add warmth to the general effect. Citrine harmon-
ises well with the deep purple tones which, at the decline of day, prevail
in the middle distance.
RUSSET (ORANGE AND PURPLE).
The second primary hue is russet, in which red predominates. It will
be seen by Plate 3, fig. 2, to be a mixture of orange and purple, or of
red and yellow, with red and blue. As red occurs twice in its composi-
tion, russet inclines more to red than the other primaries. Sometimes it
appears among pigments in a subdued form under the name of red ; thus
Indian red is a tolerably good russet. Brown madder is a deep transparent
russet, which harmonises well with deep greens ; it is a very useful colour
24
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
for the first harmonising tones of a water-colour drawing, since it mixes
well with a broken or subdued yellow, and when thus varied may be passed
over the whole paper.
In union with the blues it supplies a gray, which forms an excellent
link in connecting light and shade with colour. Eusset has a more retiring
quality than brown. Having a portion of blue in its composition it par-
takes of the aerial hue, and is therefore often used to represent some of the
more decided browns which occur in the shade or middle distance.
OLIVE (PURPLE AND GREEN).
Olive, formed by purple and green, is the last of the tertiary colours,
and is more nearly connected with blue than the two former ; it therefore
makes the nearest approach to shade and darkness. It contrasts well with
a deep-toned orange, and is the most retiring of all the colours. Appearing
continually in the representations of slates and grays on rocks, and in the
deep shadows on water, it is of great importance in the landscape. Caution
must be observed in its use, as it has a tendency to detract too much from
the light of the picture.
THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS.
25
Section III.
ON THE HARMONY AND NATURAL
CONTRASTS OF COLOURS.
HE study of Chromatics, or the relations which different
colours bear to each other, forms an essential part of the
education of every student in the art of colouring. It en-
ables him to appreciate the numberless variations which he
may make with his pigments, and teaches him to heighten
and develop colours by the repeated application of tints
and hues harmonising with each other. By its aid, too,
he may sometimes obtain a happy effect in the judicious use of
those contrasts and apparent oppositions of colour which experi-
ence has proved to be productive of the most agreeable results.
Although the science of optics of late years has made great
advances, it is not yet possible to deduce from it any certain rules
to determine the relative proportions which colours in juxtaposi-
tion must bear to each other, in order to produce perfect harmony. A
knowledge of these proportions can only be acquired by the cultivation of
the artist’s taste, and probably varies with the peculiar quality of the per-
ceptive faculties of each individual. We may, however, by a brief exa-
mination of facts relating to the theory of colour, already determined by
the science of optics, arrive at those principles which form the basis of a
sound artistic education.
The spectrum has not been placed before the student to prove that the
proportions therein exhibited by its different colours are those to be em-
ployed in good and harmonious colouring ; nor is it even necessary that
colours should follow the same order to produce agreeable contrasts. The
colours of some of the most celebrated pictures have been arranged in very
different positions and proportions. There are, indeed, pictures forming
admirable examples of harmonious colouring, which scarcely contain any
2G
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
positive colour throughout their whole composition. To recur at once to
the highest authority — nature, how often are we lost in wonder and
admiration at the solemn effect of an assemblage of almost neutral hues
and tones in an autumnal twilight or a wintry storm ! To imagine the
necessity of a strict adherence to any such order of proportion and con-
trasts, would be as absurd as to suppose the finest effects of music to depend
on the constant succession of the most perfect chords. No — the spectrum
has merely been introduced in order that we may trace all colour to its ori-
ginal source — light ; and that, by observing the influence which light, in all
its modifications, exercises upon colour, we may arrive at facts affording
us a sure foundation on which to establish rules for the judicious appli-
cation of the pigments representing those colours.
The various bodies most nearly representing the prismatic colours must
first be carefully examined, both separately and in combination, and also
under the influence of different lights ; so that we may be aware of their
effects upon our vision, become master of their properties, and observe
those affinities or contrasts which are most agreeable or disagreeable to our
perceptive organs.
Such inquiries, in a work devoted like the present more to practice
than theory, must necessarily be short and concise. They may, however,
serve to indicate the course of study which every one, pursuing the art with
earnestness, must undertake ; and also to encourage the student to examine
nature for himself, that he may understand and appreciate the beautiful
results of the simple laws by which her operations are governed.
The experiments in regard to the effects produced on the visual organs
by coloured light of great intensity, and the tendency of each particular
colour to excite the perception of a certain other colour in all whose sight
is in a healthy state, are so clearly detailed by Sir David Brewster in his
work on Optics, and are so important, that we quote them here at length : —
“ When the eye has been strongly impressed with any particular species
of coloured light, and when in this state it looks at a sheet of white paper,
the paper does not appear to it white, or of the colour with which the eye
was impressed, but of a different colour, which is said to be the accidental
colour of the colour with which the eye was impressed. If we place, for
THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 27
example, a bright red wafer upon a sheet of white paper, and fix the eye
steadily upon a mark in the centre of it ; then, if we turn the eye upon the
white paper, we shall see a circular spot of bluish-green light of the same
size as the wafer. This colour, which is called the accidental colour of red ,
will gradually fade away. The bluish-green image of the wafer is called an
ocular spectrum , because it is impressed on the eye, and may be carried
about with it for a short time.
“ If we make the preceding experiment with differently coloured wafers,
we shall obtain ocular spectra , whose colours vary with the colour of the
wafer employed, as in the following table ;
Colour of the Wafer.
Accidental Colour, or Colour
of the Ocular Spectra.
RED BLUISH GREEN.
ORANGE BLUE.
YELLOW INDIGO.
GREEN VIOLET REDDISH.
BLUE ORANGE RED.
„ - _r „ Accidental Colour, or Colour
Colour of the Wafer.
of the Ocular Spectra.
INDIGO ORANGE YELLOW.
VIOLET YELLOW GREEN.
BLACK WHITE.
WHITE BLACK.
“ In order to find the accidental colour of any colour in the spectrum,
take half the length of the spectrum in a pair of compasses, and setting one
foot in the colour whose accidental colour is required, the other will fall
upon the accidental colour. Hence the law of accidental colours derived
from observation may be thus stated : — The accidental colour of any colour,
in a prismatic spectrum, is that colour which in the same spectrum is
distant from the first colour half the length of the spectrum ; or, if we
arrange all the colours of any prismatic spectrum in a circle, in their due
proportions, the accidental colour of any particular colour will be the
colour exactly opposite that particular colour. Hence the two colours have
been called opposite colours.*
“ If the primitive colour, or that which impresses the eye, is reduced to
the same degree of intensity as the accidental colour, we shall find that the
one is the complement of the other, or what the other wants to make it
white light ; that is, the primitive and the accidental colours will, when
* It has been already observed, that the proportion of the colours in the spectrum varies,
even by the same kind of light, when prisms are used of different refracting substances. To
verify the above experiments, it will be necessary to use a prism of flint-glass.
28
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
reduced to the same degree of intensity which they have in the spectrum,
and when mixed together, make white light. On this account accidental
colours have been called complementary colours.
“With the aid of these facts, the theory of accidental colours will he
readily understood. When the eye has been for some time fixed on the red
wafer, the part of the retina occupied by the red image is strongly excited,
or, as it were, deadened by its continued action. The sensibility to red
light, will therefore be diminished, and, consequently, when the eye is turned
from the red wafer to the white paper, the deadened portion of the retina
will be insensible to the red rays which form part of the white light from
the paper, and consequently will see the paper of that colour which arises
from all the rays in the white light of the paper but the red ; that is, of
bluish-green colour, which is therefore the true complementary colour of the
red wafer. When a black wafer is placed on a white ground, the circular
portion of the retina on which the black image falls, in place of being
deadened, is protected, as it were, by the absence of light, while all the sur-
rounding parts of the retina, being excited by the white light of the paper,
will be deadened by its continued action. Hence when the eye is directed
to the white paper, it will see a white circle correspond to the black image on
the retina ; so that the accidental colour of black is white.”
Sir David Brewster afterwards details some curious experiments, in
which both the primitive colour and its accidental one are seen at the
same time.
Thus, if a body be illuminated by a red light and a white light of equal
intensity, one of its shadows will appear red and the other green. In these
cases, he says : —
“ The accidental colour is seen by a portion of the retina which is not
affected, or deadened, as it were, by the primitive colour. A new theory of
accidental colours is therefore requisite to embrace this class of facts.
“ As in acoustics, where every fundamental sound is actually accom-
panied with its harmonic sound, so, in the impressions of light, the sensation
of one colour is accompanied by a weaker sensation of its accidental or
harmonic colour. When we look at the red wafer, we are, at the same
time, with the same portion of the retina, seeing green / but being much
THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS.
29
fainter, it seems only to dilute the red, and make it, as it were, white, by
the combination of the two sensations. When the eye looks from the
wafer to the white paper, the permanent sensation of the accidental colour
remains, and we see a green image. The duration of the primitive im-
pression is only a fraction of a second, as we have already shown ; but the
duration of the harmonic impression continues for a time proportional to
the strength of the impression. In order to apply these views to the
second class of facts, we must have recourse to another principle, namely,
that when the whole or a great part of the retina has the sensation of any
primitive colour, a portion of the retina, protected from the impression
of the colour, is actually thrown into that state which gives the accidental
or harmonic colour. The term harmonic has been applied to accidental
colours because the primitive and its accidental colour harmonise with each
other in painting.” These remarks serve to explain the relations and
natural contrasts which colours bear to each other, and the derivation of
many of the terms so frequently used in art.
It is important to note the great differences observable in the colours of
nature, and in pigments, according to the variations of the light in which
they are viewed. By examining each colour in its primary or simple state,
and observing all its changes under different aspects, we shall be better
able to trace the delicate and unceasing variations which all colours, and
especially compound ones, assume under the influence of the changing
lights of nature.
The effect which sunlight produces upon all colours, even those which
are considered the most distinct and powerful, demands the first attention
of the landscape-painter. This light is ever changing, — the roseate hue of
morning giving place to the noontide glow ; this again passing into the rich
yellow tints of the setting sun ; these changes affording constant op-
portunity of observing how colours are affected by variations of light.
In fact, coloured bodies are only seen in what artists consider their true
colours when viewed by a cool and moderate daylight, and free from the
direct influence of the sun. Hence it is that we should choose a painting-
room with a northern aspect, as this presents the most desirable light for
in-door study.
so
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Thus the colours of natural objects vary according to the quality of the
light by which they are viewed. A sand-bank, for instance, observed
partly in a bright light and partly in shadow, will not appear altogether
of its true colour — yellow. The part under shadow will not reflect a
sufficient portion of yellow rays ; and the bright yellow of the other
part will have a tendency to produce on the eye the effect of its accidental
colour — purple. Some artists, in depicting such an object, would at once
introduce the accidental colour in a pure state, and represent the part of
the yellow sand-bank in shadow by a purple tint ; but an accurate study
of nature does not seem to warrant the total exclusion of the true colour
of the object in favour of its complementary tint.
In these and similar cases no precise rules can be given for the guidance
of the student, since in no two instances will the effects be the same. The
season of the year, the time of day, the brilliancy of the sun, and the state
of the atmosphere, all exert their influence. It is to nature, therefore, that
the artist must ever have recourse. He must take an enlarged and com-
prehensive view of her forms under the influence of the thousand aspects
presented by these changes ; he must trace the result of each effect as it
occurs, and comprehend at a glance all that bears upon his subject. Unless
this habit of viewing objects and effects is acquired, it is possible to go
repeatedly to nature, and, after all our exertions in multiplying sketches, to
return with a collection of studies, true to the original only when viewed
by one light, and from one point. There may be abundance of green trees,
and red-brick walls, because such are constantly to be met with ; but
a mere repetition of these is of little value, unless they are seen and
represented under the various appearances produced by the influence of
sunlight, accidental lights and shadows, and aerial perspective.
There is no better method of studying colours, and the various changes
which they undergo, than by accurately examining a scene, making a
faithful transcript of it under different effects, and at each examination
paying particular attention to the kind of light illumining the whole ; for
since upon this light the entire impression of the scene must depend, a
careful study of the light and its effects will relieve the student from the
serious embarassment often felt, even by men of great experience, in
THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 31
determining whether the lights of the picture shall be warm or cold. As
they are in nature, so let the artist depict them ; taking care to represent
the shadows under the influences of a light and effect corresponding to the
illuminated parts of the picture ; and if this be done faithfully, he will
doubtless find all the parts harmonising with each other.
Sir Joshua Reynolds has given some advice, which, though it is
especially addressed to historical painters, who have greater power and
liberty in choosing and arranging the light, shade, and colour of their
pictures, may yet he useful to painters of landscape.
In urging general reasons why the light should be warm, though at the
same time leaving the student free to make his own choice, he remarks,
" That the lights of a picture ought to he of a warm colour ; for though
white may be used for the principal light, as was the practice of many of
the Dutch and Flemish painters, yet it is better to suppose that white to
be illumined by the yellow rays of the setting sun, as was the manner of
Titian. The illuminated parts of objects are, in nature, of a warmer tint
than those that are in the shade. What I have recommended, therefore, is
no more than that the same conduct he observed in the whole which is
acknowledged to be necessary in every individual part. It is presenting to
the eye the same effect as that which it has been accustomed to feel, which
in this case, as in every other, will always produce beauty. No principle,
therefore, in our art can be more certain, or is derived from a higher source.”
Whether lights should be warm or cold, as well as other difficulties
which arise from too much attention to theory and too little study of
nature, will he discussed more fully hereafter, under the different heads of
Contrast, Breadth, Aerial Perspective, Tone, &c.
Taking the colours when exhibited in their material state, it is found
that red is subjected to many changes under the various influences of light
and shade. To study this more carefully, examine a red curtain hanging
at the side of a window in the sunlight ; the highest light is a mere streak
of white, the local colour being lost ; next to this, that portion of the
curtain in the half-light appears of a yellow-red or amber ; in a less degree
of light the true colour is perhaps visible, and this, as seen in the deepest
shadow, becomes either purple or black, as the light diffused through the
32
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
apartment falls more or less brightly upon it. Again, the same curtain
will appear reddish brown, crimson, or yellow russet, according to the
quality of the light by which it is seen.
What can seem more positive in colour than a red-brick house ; and
yet, viewed by a strong sunlight, the red appears changed to bright
yellow, while the part in shade is a purply gray. In sunlight red gains in
brilliancy, but loses in individuality ; in ordinary artificial light, red, and the
colours in which red predominates, appear to gain in both these qualities.
Yellow is indistinct in strong light, and when seen by the sun’s rays is
totally lost; viewed by a subdued or neutral daylight, it becomes more
distinct ; in artificial light it is greatly changed, and pale yellow can
scarcely be distinguished from white. These variations are a source of
difficulty to artists when studying by gaslight, until, by repeated ex-
periments, they ascertain the exact amount of change to which each colour
when viewed by such light, is subjected.
Blue, being very powerful and effective in strong light, is essentially
a daylight colour ; but in a less degree of light it assumes a more neutral
hue. It does not reflect so much light as the other primaries. From this
cause, and from its assimilating so closely to the general tint of the
atmosphere or to mist, it is, as a local colour, soon lost in the distance.
The above is a brief account of the principal changes that take place
in the primitive colours under different lights. Similar changes will, in
a relative degree, take place in colours formed by combinations of the
primaries, each compound partaking of the qualities of its constituents.
Perhaps the only secondary colour requiring separate notice is green. This
is the most prominent colour in landscape ; and, as it is a compound of
the two primaries most affected by changes of light, it is important that
great attention should be given to its characteristics. When considering
the green of a landscape, it must be remembered that its general hue is not
the bright decided colour, compounded of yellow and blue, in the proportion
of 3 and 8, which forms what may be called a true green ; it must rather be
described as either a mixture of citrine with blue or gray, or a compound of
yellow, orange, and blue. Even in this modified state, green is subject to
great changes. In its general character it is cool and retiring, reflecting
THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 33
but little light, and appearing to belong more to the shadows than the
lights ; and thus its individuality is soon lost in the distance, where it
changes into blue or bluish gray. As this colour presents the greatest
discord to blue, in order to produce a good effect, a harmonising warm
purple haze, the reddish gray of the atmosphere, or the same tint of
clouds, is continually required to assimilate its masses with the azure
blue of the sky.
D
34
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Section IY.
ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRI-
MINATE COLOURS.
HE well-known fact, that individuals pos-
sess, in very different degrees, the power of
distinguishing, not only minute shades of
the same colour, hut also the colours most
strikingly opposed to each other, renders
it evident that any want of capacity in this respect
must place an insurmountable barrier in the way of
attaining excellence in the art of colouring. The
eye may be remarkably acute in the perception of
variations in form and outline, light and shade, yet so
deficient in the power of appreciating the different
colours as to render its possessor utterly incapable of applying them with
any degree of accuracy. Public attention has of late been more forcibly
directed to this imperfection in the visual organs by the philosophical
investigations of Sir David Brewster, Dr. George Wilson, of Edinburgh,
and others, which have resulted in the discovery that this defect, called
colour blindness, is far more prevalent than was supposed ; so much so,
indeed, as to render it most desirable that every railway official, intrusted
with the charge of signals, should be carefully tested as to his power of
distinguishing between the colours, red, green, and white. We shudder at
the mere contemplation of the fearful catastrophe which might occur from
mistaking a signal implying danger for one denoting safety.
As an instance of imperfect vision, we may quote an anecdote related
of the celebrated chemist, Dr. Dalton, who thought the red gown in which
he was installed as a Doctor of Civil Law, at Oxford, was a blue one.
Some of his friends, in order to test this peculiarity of his vision, sub-
stituted red stockings for those he usually wore, when the Doctor put them
on without remarking anything particular in their appearance ; and even
ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRIMINATE COLOURS. 35
on his attention being directed to them, he only remarked that they looked
rather dirty. Perhaps the whole amount of light conveyed to his eye was
merely diminished, without being otherwise changed ; and thus white
stockings may have appeared to him gray instead of white, as they would
have done had all the rays entered his eye, and impressed their full pro-
portions on that organ. I can give no opinion as to how far this defect
may be remedied by a careful education of the eye. We know that by
cultivation the organ of hearing may be rendered more capable of dis-
tinguishing sounds ; and, judging from analogy, we may suppose that the
organ of sight also, by proper training, might be equally improved in its
power of discriminating colours ; at all events, it is important to those
desirous of studying colour to ascertain their exact amount of power in this
respect. Should they discover any defect, not to be remedied either by
cultivation or the science of the oculist, they must be contented to confine
their efforts in art to the study of those effects which can be produced by
the neutrals, black and white. These become more effective, as well as at-
tractive, by employing them in the form of chalks or pigments on gray paper.
Some difficulty in naming colours may arise, not from any imperfection
in the visual organs, but from the want of a clear and distinct nomen-
clature ; thus we often allow ourselves to designate as yellow those colours
which are mixtures of yellow and red, or of yellow and blue, in different
proportions. The pigments denominated red are by no means pure ; in
fact, the landscape-painter’s colour-box may not contain one red ; as
carmine (the nearest approach to a pure red) is seldom used in his branch
of the art. Again, there are blues, like Prussian blue, of a greenish hue ;
while others, like smalt, are purple. With the view, then, of avoiding
confusion, as well as unnecessarily taxing the memory of the student, we
must be careful to render the names of colours and their compounds as
simple and accurate as possible; and to impress their appearance more
fully on the minds of youth, large diagrams representing the primary,
secondary, and tertiary colours, with their names attached to them, would
be a valuable addition to our elementary schools. The pupils should be
exercised by looking at these in bright sunshine, ordinary daylight, and the
declining light of evening, and thus be taught to distinguish each colour
D 2
36
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
clearly. Such a practice might form the preliminary study ; the primaries
should then be taken, and the pupils directed to ascertain whether, after
looking steadfastly at each in the sunshine, they can perceive its accidental
colour, on the eye being directed to a white surface. These, and similar
exercises, would strongly impress the mind of the student with the general
principles of harmonious contrasts, and thus prepare a sure foundation for
good and effective colouring ; rendering unnecessary much of the present
endless and unprofitable labour of describing tints and mixtures.
Among the primary colours, yellow and blue are least liable to be mis-
taken ; while red is the most difficult to be distinguished, some persons not
seeing it as a distinct colour at all, but merely as a neutral gray, others
mistaking it for green, its accidental colour ; which among the secondaries
presents the greatest difficulty ; and this is by no means extraordinary,
when we consider how closely, in many of its qualities, it resembles blue,
and how strong the affinity it possesses for its accidental colour, red. This
affinity causes some difficulty even to those who have no defect of vision ;
thus the eyes of locomotive-engine drivers, having been fatigued by
dwelling on the bright red light of the fire, have a tendency either to lose
the power of perceiving any less intense colour, or to produce the acci-
dental colour, green. In this state their eyes cannot at the moment
distinguish coloured flags, which must necessarily have far less brilliancy
than the light at which they have just been looking. In the other two
primaries, the affinity for the accidental colour is not so strongly marked.
In regarding these phenomena, attention must be paid to the distance
of the coloured body from the eye. Dr. Wilson instances a young civil
engineer who could not distinguish, unless he was close to them, “ a red
from a green light, yet he could tell a blue from a red light, at any practical
distance.” Distance, therefore, is an element of deception ; indeed, ex-
periments have shown that the majority of those who are colour-blind can
distinguish, with great ease, red from green, when these colours are bright,
near the eye, and well illuminated ; but the power of discrimination
diminishes with great rapidity as they recede from the coloured object.
Colour-blindness, in those unable at a little distance to distinguish red
from bright green, may be detected by their inability to perceive the
ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRIMINATE COLOURS. 37
difference between russets and ruddy browns, near at band, from olives
and dark greens.
Some amusing trials were lately made by the author to test the capa-
bilities of a pupil whose friends wished him to learn drawing, but who,
either from idleness or diffidence, maintained that he had no eye for form
or colour. This youth could tell to an inch the height of any of his
companions ; he knew, to the breadth of a line, any difference in the size
of a ball ; and in length and thickness of cricket-bats he was quite an
oracle. Experimenting on his perception of colour, it was found that he
could distinguish, without difficulty, the most delicate variations in the
colour of the hair or complexion, and what was doubtless a far more
interesting exercise of his visual organs, he could, without hesitation,
choose by its tint the ripest peach or apple, and appreciate the down on
the untouched plum or grape.
38
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
SECTION V.— EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
S the object of this treatise is to place before students
in art the results of the labour and researches
of others in as simple a form as possible, it is
\ 1 of the greatest importance that the system laid
down, and the terms used, should be in accordance
with those employed by the highest authorities. Fortunately
we possess a large number of rules, founded on well-tried
principles, which, having been adopted by artists who have
left imperishable names, remain still on record in the pro-
ductions by which their fame was acquired. The effect of these
principles, even when not defined in language, has repeatedly appeared in
great works of art ; and it is the author’s desire to notice and illustrate
them in as clear a manner as the united efforts of his brush and pen will
permit. In conveying this knowledge, great difficulties present themselves,
which arise not so much from deficiency of information as from the remark-
able irregularity and indefinite character of the various terms used by
artists and amateurs. To obviate these, we proceed to notice some of the
terms generally employed, and to explain the sense in which they are to be
understood throughout this work.
The names of the prismatic colours, established by Newton and other
natural philosophers, being clear and distinct, have been employed without
hesitation in Section II. It has been explained that artists, after dividing
these colours into primary and secondary, have taken in addition the
tertiary compounds, or primary hues arising from the admixture of the
secondary colours. Each of these hues, containing one of the three
primaries in a double proportion, they distinctively call a hue of that
primary to which it bears the greatest affinity. The term first or primary
hues is applied to colours of this class, because they come immediately
in order after the first and second groups of colours.
The word Tint is to be considered as particularly applying to colours in
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
39
their different varieties ; thus yellows are lemon-yellow, straw-colour, amber,
&c. ; red appears as rose-colour, crimson, scarlet, &c. ; blue, as sky or azure
blue, indigo, &c. ; these being the tints of yellow, red, and blue respectively.
In oil-painting, colours tempered or subdued by white are called Tints ;
they correspond to those which in water-colours are reduced by water. The
latter are sometimes designated Stains; but this term is seldom used,
unless to express an almost imperceptible effect, such as that produced by
the portion of a delicate rose-madder tint left on the sky, after the whole
colour has apparently been washed off. As the drawing, however, advances
towards completion, the result is obvious ; the stain itself is scarcely seen,
yet the effect it produces — namely, a warm aerial glow — prevents the blues,
afterwards laid on, from looking positive and cold in colour : in this sense,
the term may be used in the practice of art.
The term Half Tints expresses those mean or middle degrees of colour
either between full illumination and deep shadow, or between the full
strength or expression of the colour, and those shades of it in which the
colour is scarcely discernible ; these are sometimes also called Broken Tints.
Rubens is supposed to have placed full tints side by side in his pictures,
and then to have mingled them by sweeping or dragging a brush over
them ; thus harmonising the whole by blending the colours.
The term Shade may denote different degrees in the depth of colour,
but belongs more particularly to shadow, or to colours in shadow and their
deeper tones, when they have more affinity to darkness than to light.
I believe this to be the general acceptation of the term. Hay has so
used it in his Nomenclature of Colours • for in Plate V. of that work,
fig. 1, there called a tint, is of a pale rose-colour, and contrasted with
fig. 4, called a shade of myrtle green. Again, when these experiments
are reversed in Plate YI. the green is called the tint, and the term shade
applied to a deep chocolate, or shade of red.
Tone — a term evidently borrowed from the art of music — is used in a
more extended signification than either tint or shade. It may be considered
as expressing the harmonious arrangement of combined tints and shades,
being equally applicable to neutral colouring : thus, we may say of a sepia
or gray drawing that it requires tone , meaning that the quantities of light
40
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
and shade should be blended in a greater degree. It is also applicable
either to cool or warm colours ; thus, speaking of a picture, we may say
that it has a cool tone or a warm tone, or that it has become toned by age.
Haydon, in his Autobiography, speaks of toning down his pictures with
a large brush and asphaltum, and describes this act of giving tone to his
t
pictures as one of the artist’s greatest delights. Tone may likewise indicate
the opposite of rawness. Tones may be said to be pure when they are
obtained by the primary hues being placed in such positions that the eye
regards the whole as a mass of various colours blended into one ; or they
may be denominated pure, when they result from true mixtures of the
secondary colours. The term may be applied when describing golden or
autumnal hues, deep reddish browns, as chestnut or auburn ; the expression
full-toned , when speaking of such colours as pomona green ; and deep-toned,
when indicating those fine shades of red and purple called marroon, or olive
green. Lastly, tone is used by artists to convey the idea of that blending of
colours by the addition of some other or others in a transparent state ;
which, when done with judgment, assists in harmonising the colouring, and
adding to the repose and breadth of the whole. We use this term very
freely, — far too freely, — and thus render its signification very vague.
Unity — a term equally applicable to a painting either in respect to its
light and shade, or to its colour — implies an harmonious connexion of
colours ; thus one colour may be united to another, not by position and
concord alone, but by some third condition ; as when a transparent glazing
of colour passes equally over the two, they become blended or united.
Colours may be united in a pure state by stippling, or interlacing them, as
it were, with one another* in small portions. In its widest sense, unity
means that the various parts of the picture are so systematically arranged
as to convey the idea of their perfect connexion.
Bkeadth implies that either light and shade, or colour, are in masses,
and not divided into small portions. The expression breadth of light does
not convey the idea of a mass of light equally intense in all its parts, but of
one graduated insensibly by half tints, and having a central spot like a focus,
whence the light, diminishing by degrees, is diffused throughout the picture
or adjacent parts. Breadth of shade signifies that the shadow is not broken
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
41
or separated by any small portions of light, but in one mass, varying in
depth, some parts being of greater intensity than others. We may likewise
employ the term breadth when speaking of a mass of colours, which, how-
ever various in hue, are for the most part either of a warm or cold character,
and undisturbed by the prominency of any single colour.
For examples of breadth of shadow, we cannot have a finer master
than Eembrandt, who, by a large and well graduated mass of shade, fre-
quently caused a small amount of light to be extremely effective. It is said
that during his early youth he lived in a windmill, the only light admitted
to the interior of which came through a small upper window ; and thus,
being left to study the effect of concentrated light, he ever after treated
out-door as well as in-door subjects in the same manner. On the other
hand, for illustration of breadth obtained by the introduction of large masses
of light, there can be no hesitation in referring the student to the pictures
of Turner, who, in strong contrast to Eembrandt, was well known to be
greatly attached to this treatment of subjects.
Breadth of Tone is obtained by placing not only the primitive but the
secondary colours, and primary hues, in such relative positions that the eye
passes on without any sudden interruption.
Harmony expresses the arrangement of colours, varying in their propor-
42
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
tions and degrees of purity, in such positions that the result is agreeable to
the eye. This does not imply that there shall he any certain proportion
observed between the warm and the cold parts. Harmony may exist in
pictures, or in combinations of hues, &c. which are nearly all cool, and also
in those of which the tones are of the opposite character, — yet it is essential
that the colours, hues, or tones composing a picture should be so arranged
that, however varied the parts, one prevailing sentiment may pervade the
whole. Thus, should the majority of colours and hues in a picture be
illuminated by a warm setting sun, and the rest by a pure white daylight,
the whole would be deficient in harmony ; or should some portion of colour
in the form of a flag, having a tone approaching that of the sky, but not of
the whole mass (as rose-colour or emerald green), be introduced on a stormy
sky of a lurid reddish tone, it would be out of harmony with the rest of the
picture, jar on the feelings, and annoy the sensitive eye. This want of
harmony would be evident to the most uneducated in art, nearly all persons
being conscious of any incongruity of tone, though few can explain the
cause. The remains of early colouring, in the Egyptian tombs and the
buildings of Pompeii, show that the decorators among the ancients pro-
duced harmony by the use of the three primitive colours in conjunction
with black and white ; this they did by skilfully adjusting these colours in
due proportion ; when their union with black and white— which, represent-
ing light and shade, possess great harmonising power — gave the desired
result. The effect attained by the well-judged use of these pigments was
greatly assisted by the air, distance, and the light and shade of the building
in which they were placed. In speaking of the changes to which colours
are subjected by distance or aerial perspective, even in the purest air and
climate, it has been remarked, that all the primitives thus changed become
broken colours. For instance, a strong pure yellow becomes a broken
yellow ; red is changed to orange ; blue to an indefinite gray ; hence, in
estimating the conditions of harmony, distance and the prevailing atmo-
sphere must be taken into account. Lastly, it should be remembered, that
although such harmonising influence has great effect on the expanse of
nature, yet it has little or none on the picture ; for this being only a few
feet from our eyes, the space intervening occupied by the atmosphere is too
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
43
small to be subject to any sensible change ; so that we must rather exagge-
rate the natural effect, and mark all the changes occurring through these
influences.
Local Colour. The natural colour of an object, when seen in ordi-
nary daylight, and at a convenient distance, as a sheet of paper at arm’s-
length, a tree at twice or thrice its height, &c. The true local colour of
any object is not visible in sunlight, being then lost in light ; nor in shade,
for then it is either absorbed in darkness or altered by accidental influences,
such as reflections, &c. Owing to these influences, it follows that very little
of the local colour of an object is depicted ; nor should the student be too
anxious to show it as he knows it to be, but rather as it appears at the time
when he is studying it. (See Chapter I. Section III. on the “Effect of
Predominating Light.”)
Taking out. Eecovering the light or white of the paper, by removing,
in various ways, the colour previously laid on ; a mode of obtaining high or
secondary lights that is in some instances more effectual than using body-
colour. It gives great force, texture, and character to the foreground, and is
more fully described in the “Mode of Working,” Chapter III. Section IV.
Blotting in. An expression used by many water-colour artists when
they want to describe the laying in masses of varied tones, graduating one
into another. This is done with a moderately-full brush, so that the colours
mingle to a certain extent, but not so full as when required for a wash ; it
is supposed to represent the general middle tone, and is laid in without
attending to either the highest lights or the deepest shadows. More fully
described in “ Mode of Working.”
Scale. Besides the usual meaning of objects being drawn to a scale,
when one-third or less of the size, &c., this term is used to denote the rela-
tive degrees that the tones of a picture hold to nature, or to each other.
For example, a picture may be executed in a high scale when pure white is
introduced, and the tints are graduated with reference to that colour, as
they are in many of Turner’s later pictures ; or in Titian’s, where they
graduate in rich deep tones from yellow ; or in Bembrandt’s, descending
rapidly from a small portion of high light to a middle tone, but graduating
more slowly in the deeper tones.
44
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Foreground. That part of the picture which appears nearest to the
spectator. With the exception of such portions of the landscape as moun-
tains, whose large dimensions cause some of their parts to retire, every
object may in turn occupy the foreground : the careful delineation of parts,
instead of complete landscapes, should therefore form the young artist’s
first studies. This is so important that it is treated at length in Chapter IV.
Section III., and in a small work called Foliage and Foregrounds.
Background. An expression more used in portrait and figure subjects
than in landscapes, as the different parts of a landscape are more frequently
mentioned in detail ; as sky, distance, middle-distance, &c.
Accessories. More used in figure subjects or portraits ; referring to
objects and materials independent of the principal subject, being used to fill
up parts that without them would appear naked, to establish a balance
between the masses, to form the contrast, to contribute to the harmony of
colours, and so add to the splendour and richness of a picture. Little used
in landscapes, as, if the principal object be a ruin, or some interesting point,
we prefer when speaking to name the surrounding objects in detail, as moun-
tains, boats, figures, &c.
Keeping. Although generally considered as attention to the proper
subserviency of tone and colour, is sometimes used vaguely ; it may mean —
not in perspective, either linear or aerial ; thus some part of the picture not
in unison with others is out of keeping, meaning out of harmony , wanting
some quality to put it in its proper place, — failing in distance, force, or
colour; also to be crude is to want keeping. Another word of the same
general signification among artists, but scarcely defensible, is raw or raw-
ness ; which, if allowed, would necessarily require another term, namely,
cooking ; and this would certainly be exceedingly annoying to artists, the
majority of whom would much rather be told that their painting was
raw than that it wanted “ cooking : ” we should therefore be cautious in
using indefinite terms.
Repose. A quality not difficult to understand, but very difficult
to obtain without monotony. Large ideas of the subject at the com-
mencement, and a correct appreciation of the different value of the
various parts, will assist the young artist in preserving repose, or the
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
45
quiet sustaining harmony of the whole. It applies to form, light and shade,
and colour. Those portions of the picture in repose will then support
the more attractive or brilliant spots ; they may at the same time repeat
or echo the principal light or colour, and thus prevent these spots from
being too isolated or unconnected with the rest of the picture, which
may, under such circumstances, be said to be well put together , or, when
deficient in these qualities, want putting together .
Motion is used more with respect to lines and forms than to colour, and
expresses variety and action, in opposition to repose.
Relief may refer to small as well as to large subjects. A drawing of a
fly may want relief, if the delicate cast shadow of the body, limbs, or wings,
fails to convey the idea that the insect is resting on its legs at a slight dis-
tance from the paper. Young students must not suppose, that to obtain
force an object must be relieved by a violent opposition of light and shade,
or an equally strong opposition of colours ; nor is it even necessary to have
cutting lines or edges that may cause the object to be mistaken for reality,
like the representation of a damaged engraving with the corner turned up,
or the head of a smuggler thrust out over the gold frame. This is taking a
very narrow view of the term. On the contrary, an object may be suffi-
ciently relieved by delicate alterations in tone, or contrasts of harmonising
colours, and yet be mainly absorbed in the surrounding objects or back-
ground ; in nature an object is rarely equally relieved all round, more
generally the larger quantity of the outline is scarcely distinguishable either
in form or colour from them, and this repose gives double effect to the
smaller portion that tells, or is telling ; that is to say, that has striking
qualities.
Effect. The impression produced upon the mind by the sight of a
picture ; but pictorial effect, or effects, we take to mean some predominating
light and shade or colour in addition to those belonging to, or produced by,
objects in the picture. This may influence a part or the whole of the scene,
and may represent a pictorial phenomenon of nature, such as the rays of the
sun darting through a cloud, or from behind a mountain at sunrise, sunset,
&c. ; rain, with rainbow, a storm, &c. The simple light and shade belonging
to each object, however carefully represented, will not make an effect, nor
46
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
will objects thus treated, when placed side by side, form a picture ; this
appears to be forgotten by many young artists, who imagine that if they
paint each object with exceeding care, that they must at last make a pleas-
ing picture ; on the contrary, one portion of the scene must have reference
to another. If the distance is all minutely painted up to the focus of the
eye when looking at it, and afterwards figures be added equally minutely
studied and important, the whole effect is injured, and the eye is distracted
by continually looking from one to the other. It is said that when Mul-
ready first exhibited his “ Whistonian Controversy,” the table-cover was so
beautifully finished and coloured, that it attracted the attention from the
countenances of the players, and it was not until he had subdued the
pattern in form and colour that the great doubt and anxiety depicted on the
faces were noticed, and the effect rendered complete. Accidental Lights or
Shadows may form part of an effect. (See Chapter III. Section II.)
Sentiment. This term is used by some for the predominating effect or
story of the picture.
Key — Focus. Artists and colourists use these terms to express that
spot or concentration of light or colour that appears to combine or contrast
with most energy the tints or shades diffused throughout the work ; they
may then be said to be focused. Thus, many of the pearly grays and deli-
cate broken purples or greens in a marine subject may be set off and united
by some bright spots on a painted buoy lying in shallow water or the sea-
beach. This may be the key to the whole colouring ; it may also be made
the focus to the light and shade, and is thus made serviceable in more than
one of Turner’s pictures besides the “Fighting Tem^raire.” Artists have
great faith in the mysterious power of this key or focus ; accordingly it is-
supposed not only to unite and bring forward tones scattered over the pic-
ture, but also to send some back, and clear up others. To do this it is not
wonderful that lights and shades, and also colours, have to be greatly forced
or exaggerated, and that emerald green and vermilion are often harnessed
side by side to drag a crude performance into unison. However, to force
the effect by exaggerating in some degree the difference in distances, or the
effect of air, mist, or light, and thus concentrate more power than would
be found in an equal portion of the panorama, may sometimes be allowed,
EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS.
47
but the young artist should first be content simply to copy the effects he
finds in nature.
Dirty Tints, in colouring, express that the tone neither represents true
light and shade, nor yet true colouring. Thus, if spots of impure opaque
colour are produced in the sky or distance where we know there ought to be
pure aerial tints, and if these spots indicate no form, but only distract the
attention, the whole may be called dirty. Should this occur in the delicate
shading of a face, not only in the shadows, where there ought to be no irre-
gular spots, but also in the light flesh-tints, it is particularly observable and
reprehensible. Dirty tints are most frequently the result of inexperience or
timidity in using colours ; thus, passing wash after wash of various pigments,
without attention to their different qualities, will soon produce this disagree-
able result. To prevent it, the student should make experiments with
his pigments, and thus learn beforehand the result and effect different
washes or mixtures will produce. In landscape, if the three primitives are
used in too equal proportions, there will arise a degraded tone, neither like
pure gray nor brown, but resembling opaque dirt ; and if this is rubbed
about, or produced by the repetition of washes or tints over one another
without order, the whole will be void of transparency or any determinate
connexion with one primary more than another. Nothing produces this
unwished-for effect sooner than laying on the first general wash too strong,
and with an impure yellow, for the red and blue following will be sure to
produce dirty tones. If, in such a case, washing with a sable and plenty of
water does not overcome it, and prepare it to receive some purer tint of a
more agreeable tone, it is better to sponge the whole and fairly remove
the faulty yellow laid on at the beginning.
Broken Colours are produced by the mixture of one or more pigments ;
or pigments may be found containing a slight proportion of one with a larger
proportion of another. Thus, yellow ochre is called a broken or subdued
yellow, having a small quantity of reddish brown in it, and it is safer to use
on many occasions than breaking yellow down by too much mixing.
Air — Atmosphere. The imitation of the effects of the atmosphere,
regarded as a fluid medium through which forms are visible. When the
forms are well detached, the picture has air.
48
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Execution, Handling, Manipulation. These terms, with many
others, are used when speaking of the mode of working necessary to bring
about an artist’s performance. However much we may fear mannerism in
our way of expressing our ideas, we must not prevent, by too much caution
and timidity, the young student from endeavouring to acquire at the very
beginning a vigorous and effective way of expressing his ideas. When
learning a language, every word is first pronounced slowly and with great
precision; the pupil hears his teacher pronounce it over and over again,
then he endeavours to imitate the exact sound ; and, going on to sentences,
he makes equal efforts to obtain the proper emphasis, and at last he suc-
ceeds in giving the just expression and value to every word he utters. All
this seems very simple in language ; it applies equally to art. Let the lan-
guage and grammar of art be first learned in the same precise and decided
way, under the eye of a careful and expert master ; let the pupil watch
his mode of handling his different instruments, and not grudge labour in
endeavouring to do the same things in the same way ; he will then go to
nature with some power at least of imitation, and not feel so utterly at a
loss that he is afraid even of touching a pencil or making the slightest
sketch. Let him adopt the best and most expressive style he can find. If
it does not express his own ideas of nature, he will soon invent a better ;
but surely, in this language as in another, if “ English-French ” is different
from “ French-French,” it is better than no French at all.
Manner — Style. (See Chapter IY. Section XI.)
Hatching, Stippling, Scumbling, Glazing, Dragging. (See “Mode
of Working,” Chapter III. Section IY.)
High Lights. (See “ Light and Shade,” Chapter III. Section II.)
Chiar’oscuro, or light and shade. (See Chapter III. Section IY.)
Composition. (See Chapter III. Section I.)
CHAPTER II.
MATERIALS.
SECTION L— ON THE POSITION OF PIGMENTS IN THE BOX, OR ON
THE PALETTE.
THE MOIST-COLOUR BOX.
for a judicious and exact arrangement of colours in respect to the various
hues and tints affords considerable assistance in the practice of the art. The
pigments should always occupy the same positions in relation to each other,
in order that there may be no hesitation in dipping the brush into the colour
required. A brilliant effect of sunlight and shadow may pass away, and
with it the opportunity of recording its most striking features, while search
is being made, on a disorderly palette, for the colours requisite to give
a faithful representation of its fleeting beauties. It is precisely in such
E
50
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
transient effects that memory generally fails to supply the want of
memoranda made at the moment.
Again, in the working out of a favourite conception, every student must
he aware of the value of facility of hand. While he feels the whole power
of his mind scarcely adequate to the realisation of the glowing images of his
fancy, he should not voluntarily subject himself to the irritations and loss
of time proceeding from an absence of order in the disposition of his
materials. No one, so far advanced in artistic power as to permit himself
a flight into the regions of imagination, can ever designate such trials as
petty. He must feel that their influence may suffice to tarnish the splendour
of the brightest day-dream in which he may allow himself to indulge.
In the arrangement of the pigments, the Author has adopted that
order of succession which, by experience, he has found most useful and
convenient.
In the moist-colour box, represented at the head of this Section, twenty
pigments are given, consisting of those best adapted for Landscape-Painting.
Commencing at the upper end, they succeed each other in the following
order : —
GAMBOGE.
YELLOW OCHRE.
BURNT SIENNA.
VERMILION.
CRIMSON LAKE.
INDIAN YELLOW.
RAW SIENNA.
LIGHT RED.
ROSE MADDER.
INDIAN RED.
PURPLE MADDER.
VANDYKE BROWN.
BROWN PINK.
BLACK.
FRENCH BLUE.
BROWN MADDER.
SEPIA.
payne’s gray.
INDIGO.
COBALT.
The box being placed on the left hand, or on that side of the drawing,
the yellows will be furthest from the person. The rounded cover of the box,
being divided into three cup-like forms, is for mixing washes when out of
doors and it is inconvenient to carry saucers ; the flat flap is that on which
the brush is touched to mix or vary tints. In large works, however, it is
almost necessary to carry a few saucers, and three or four of the pigments
the most used, such as cobalt, yellow ochre, gamboge, and brown madder, in
collapsible tubes ; these can be placed in large masses on the palette, or
rapidly made into washes in the saucers, for covering large surfaces. The
pigments contained in these boxes ought not to dry and crack ; but as they
will sometimes do so when long exposed to the sun and drying wind, they
OF TWENTY-FIVE OF THE MOST USEFUL PIGMENTS.
LEMON YELLOW.
2. GAMBOGE.
3. INDIAN YELLOW.
4. CADMIUM.
5. YELLOW OCHRE.
6. RAW SIENNA.
7. ORANGE CHROME
8. MARS ORANGE.
9. BURNT SIENNA.
10. LIGHT RED.
11. VERMILION.
12. ROSE MADDER.
13. CRIMSON LAKE.
14. VENETIAN RED.
15. INDIAN RED.
16. PURPLE MADDER.
17. BROWN MADDER.
18. VAN. BROWN.
19. BROWN PINK.
20. 3EFIA.
21. PAYNE'S GRAY.
22. IVORY BLACK.
23. INDIGO.
24. FRENCH BLUE.
25. COBALT.
LKIC.HTON, BROTH Kits
PLATE 4.
THE COLOUR-BOX.
51
should be shut up as soon as possible. A small piece of sponge, cut square
and kept wet, or a damp strip of linen laid over them before they are
covered at night, will render them moist and easier to work. If at any
time a pan of colour is put in to replace one exhausted, the bottom of it
should be either pasted or gummed, as otherwise it is apt to shake about,
and sometimes adhere to the cover.
Although portable moist-colour boxes rarely contain more than the
above list of pigments, there are many more which the experienced artist
finds of use, either in obtaining certain effects, or as substitutes for some of
those already named. An enlarged scale of twenty-five pigments has been
placed before the student in Plate 4, having an order approximating to
that which they occupy in the box, and at the same time extended in
such a manner as to present to the eye, at one view, an harmonious
arrangement of colours.
The above pigments have been selected as most generally useful and
eligible for water-colour painters. It would be easy to increase their
number ; but it is better for the student to become thoroughly acquainted
with these in the first instance, and afterwards, if desirable, to add or
substitute others.
In this general view of the pigments employed, we may as well note
how far it is possible so to dispose them as to imitate that breadth of
tone frequently observed in nature, where one hue passing into another
that differs from it only in a slight degree yet harmonises with it, is
constantly creating agreeable changes and gradations of colour. This
almost imperceptible alteration of colour is distinct from those more
striking oppositions called contrasts , and although not apparently so im-
portant, should occupy the young artist’s most careful attention, he will
then perceive that colour in nature is almost always gradated ; the study
of it, therefore, in detail, as well as contrasts, will form the subject of
some illustrations in a future portion of this work.
•52
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
SECTION II.— DESCRIPTION OF THE
QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS.
OLOURS, or pigments, as they are more
properly called, are now prepared either in a
moist or dry state. The moist pigments are so
perfect in their preparation, at the same time so
portable and convenient, that they are almost
universally employed. Presenting a mass of
pure colour, from which any quantity can be
obtained without previous rubbing,
<pfr KJ | they are particularly serviceable in
V \ tjy sketching from nature. In the for-
cible painting required in the fore-
ground of a picture, they become
doubly valuable ; for in this part
of the subject the artist has need of
small portions of pure colour to drag, scumble, or intermix with those
already supplied ; so that, instead of losing, he may rather add to the
rough texture of the paper ; and this power he obtains by taking up on
the point of his brush such pigments as he requires ; the main body of
colour in his brush not being washed out, but remaining to influence more
or less the portions thus taken up.
But useful and convenient as they undoubtedly are, they have not super-
seded the dry or cake colours for the pure and delicate washes and tints
required at the commencement of every large work ; these are best executed
with the latter, rubbed up either on an earthen palette or in saucers. The
tints made with the pigments in cake are purer, and give more appearance
of air to the sky and distance than can be obtained with the moist colours.
When cake colours are employed, it is recommended that a few of those
tints required in the sky should be rubbed on a large flat slab, or tile, about
twelve inches square. This will give space to prepare a sufficient quantity
DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS.
to allow of washes or tints in the sky or distance being completed without
again ^having recourse to the colour-box. By this means those slight alter-
ations hi the tint, which are almost inseparable from every renewal, are
avoided.
Having included nearly all the pigments most eligible for the water-
colour painter in the preceding list and accompanying plate, we will now
proceed to give a brief description of their prominent qualities ; but, before
doing so, we may remark, that among these almost every artist has his
favourites, for which, by frequently resorting to their use, he shows his pre-
dilection. The student, however, should beware of giving way to any such,
bias in favour of a particular pigment ; as such a custom, joined to an ill-
regulated fancy, may affect the whole colour of his works.
In this selection will be found those pigments considered by Mr. Field
and other authorities as permanent in most situations, and under most cir-
cumstances. One or two of them, adopted only for particular effects, will
be described hereafter. It must be remembered, that pigments are likely
to stand best, and are most transparent, where they are least mingled with
others. We must therefore select such as represent the colours we desire
to produce, and degrade them as little as possible by mixture. By studying
their different hues, in the graduated scale, Plate 4, the student will become
acquainted with their fitness for his purpose, and thus be greatly assisted in
his selection.
On the palette, as well as in the box, the same order should be retained,
commencing with yellow, as being the best representative of light, and pass-
ing on from left to right, to orange, red, russet, citrine, and neutrals, and
lastly to blue. Each division of the diagram shows the pigment with a
gradual increase of colour.
It is hardly necessary to explain that light or dark, as regards these
examples, does not imply a change in the colour used, but that the differ-
ence in their degrees of intensity is caused by more or less of the white
light of the paper appearing through them.
In addition to the pigments displayed in the diagram, we must mention
white ; for although, strictly speaking, it cannot be considered as a colour,
but rather as an opaque body representing light, yet it is so much used to
54?
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
mix with other pigments, and is so important in recovering light on certain
parts of the picture, that it claims precedence in our descriptions.
WHITE.
Zinc white, or oxide of zinc, called also Chinese white, although it has
not the opacity or solidity of white-lead, is nevertheless, owing to its per-
manence, the more eligible pigment. Employed with discretion, it is jf
great importance in water-colour painting ; affording us, when blended
with some of the warmer colours, the means of recovering any bright
lights which we may have lost. By using it thin, and scumbling over
some of the distant tints, an appearance of air is given ; but it must be con-
fessed it is air charged with moisture, not the pure transparent medium,
through which the form and colours of all objects are so distinctly seen. It
is more successfully used in opaque touches in light, and confined to the
foreground, and should be toned down by the addition of some warm pig-
ment ; when dragged over the rough paper, it gives great solidity, richness,
and variety of texture. The preparation has arrived at great excellence ;
and the pigment is generally pure and easily worked, drying without any
material alteration of colour ; but as the least trace of iron will cause it to
change colour with sulphuretted hydrogen, or the foul air from gas, drains,
&c., all who use it should try it themselves, by laying a wash on a strip of
pure white paper, one half of which they should submit, while wet, to such
gases ; the other they should carefully guard between sheets of paper. On
comparing the two, they will easily perceive whether the white changes
colour ; if it does, they may depend upon it all their lights will go in the
same way, if exposed to similar influences.
LEMON YELLOW.
A luminous vivid yellow, rather pale and opaque, but still, being perma-
nent, much to be preferred in water-colour painting to Naples yellow, which
has not that quality. It is sometimes used in the first light washes in the
sky or distance, and also over other colours ; or, jsvhen slightly modified by
them, it may be applied in small brilliant touches, in order to give the
brightest lights on foliage.
DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS.
55
GAMBOGE.
A bright transparent yellow, very important in making most kinds of
green ; those with indigo or Prussian blue are clear and cool. With the
addition of burnt Sienna, or other transparent orange colours, it makes a
rich and easily-varied autumnal tint ; with sepia, Payne’s gray, or black,
it forms sober greens, as useful as they are numerous ; and with brown
madder, a rich autumnal tint. Not having a retiring quality, caution is
necessary when employing it in the distance. Gamboge is a vegetable
gum ; and though not quite permanent, is considered one of the best yellow
pigments for the above purpose.
INDIAN YELLOW
Has greater body and depth of colour than gamboge, and is of a rich golden
hue. Combined with indigo, Prussian or French blue, it makes deep in-
tense greens ; and with burnt Sienna or brown madder, pure and glowing
autumnal tints. Care, however, must be observed in its application, as it
is apt to produce tints too strong and forced. Having these qualities, it is
more employed in the foregrounds than in the distance.
YELLOW OCHRE.
The ochres are among the most ancient and valuable of our pigments,
and are found abundantly in this and other countries. They vary very
much in colour, from a bright (not vivid or pure) yellow to a deep brown.
They are not powerful ; but possessing a slight degree of opacity and a
retiring quality, they are frequently employed in forming the subdued
greens of the middle or extreme distance. The most useful is yellow ochre,
which may be considered in some degree broken — that is to say, a mixed
colour, partaking slightly of a reddish character ; this produces a neutral
quality, causing it to be often used in combination with another mixed
colour, namely, brown madder, to make a warm neutral orange for the first
or harmonising tint, intended to give a general idea of sunlight and warmth,
without any positive colour. The other ochres, with the exception of Eoman
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
56
ochre, are little used ; the latter is deeper, and rather more transparent than
yellow ochre.
RAW SIENNA.
Sienna, in its natural state, is of rather an impure or tawny yellow.
Being very transparent, it is excellent for forming the first greenish hues of
water, whether as seen on the placid lake or in the moving waves of the sea ;
and, on account of these qualities, raw sienna is the pigment best adapted
to represent the reflections of the sky-tones given by yellow ochre. With
the addition of a little crimson lake or red, it may be made as available
for distant greens as (when pure) for those occurring in the foreground.
Having a tendency to be uneven on the paper, it does not work very well.
BURNT SIENNA.
A rich orange russet colour, very transparent and powerful, — qualities
which, added to its working with great facility, render it one of the most
valuable pigments for giving warmth and vigour to the colour of roads,
sand-banks, &c. Combined with indigo, Prussian blue, and any y of the
transparent yellows, it produces fine greens, varying from a bright citrine to
a deep olive.
CADMIUM.
This important addition to the list of yellows is a bright warm colour,
approaching to orange. Owing to some irregularity in the mode of pre-
paring this pigment, its colour is not always the same ; but it affords the
greatest variety to the palette, when differing most from Indian yellow or
chrome. It is so luminous, that light tints in the sky, &c., may be given
with it without greatly reducing the quantity of light in the picture. It is
at present rather expensive ; an objection which will probably soon be
removed on its becoming more generally employed.
ORANGE CHROME
Is a bright yellow ochre, burnt ; by which operation it acquires warmth,
colour, and transparency. It has many of the good qualities of yellow
ochre, with greater power.
DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. 57
MARS ORANGE.
An artificial ochre of a bright rich orange colour. It is prepared from
iron, and should be employed with caution. Perhaps it is not quite so
useful as burnt Sienna, from which it may he distinguished by being
brighter and clearer in tone.
LIGHT RED.
A preparation of an ochre scarcely to he classed as a red ; indeed, all
the ochres are broken or indefinite colours. This pigment partakes of the
russet orange colour, and is very useful when combined with cobalt or
French ultra-marine in forming warm grays for the shadows of clouds.
VERMILION.
This is a brilliant opaque pigment of great body and weight. It varies
much in its colour, and in the facility with which it is worked. Being
deficient in transparency, and apt to settle away from other pigments, it
does not form very useful grays or purples. In light and delicate washes,
however, it produces a glowing warmth in skies, without these defects
being conspicuous.
ROSE MADDER.
The madder lakes are the most valuable additions made to our palette in
modern times ; for, besides being permanent, they possess more delicacy
than the former lakes. With rose madder we can imitate with great truth
the roseate hues in the evening skies ; and, by adding a little indigo, may
pass from the first blush of a summer’s morn to the purple and subdued
violet tints of twilight. For the first wash on a pure sky it is preferable to
brown madder.
CRIMSON LAKE.
A beautiful transparent red ; which, being less expensive, and possessing
more power than rose madder, is generally employed in landscapes. Mixed
with cobalt or French blue, it makes fine purple tints. By adding it to
the greens of the foreground, we convert them into more neutral colours,
58
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
suitable either for the middle distance, or the purple gray foliage of such
trees as the Scotch fir, &c.
VENETIAN EED.
This is rather a deeper and purer red than light red. Its mixture
with cobalt or French blue produces fine purply tints, called by artists
grays. When the student has become acquainted with the difference
between these two pigments, he should determine which of them he
prefers, as the usual moist-colour boxes will not contain both ; and the
two are unnecessary.
INDIAN EED.
When fine, this is of a purple russet hue and good body. With it and
the deeper blues are made great varieties of rich purply tints, much used in
stormy skies, or on mountains when under the shadow of dark clouds ; but
it must be employed with moderation, otherwise it will produce heaviness,
and want of air or distance.
PUEPLE MADDEE
Is not a pure or brilliant purple ; but has great richness and transparency,
making, with cobalt or French blue, deep purply tints, which are frequently
seen in the middle distance when under shadow. For this purpose these
tints, being both pure and powerful, are preferred to those made with
Indian red.
BEOWN MADDEE.
This rich russet-coloured pigment is indispensable in water-colour
painting. It appears to be the middle hue between orange and purple ;
and when used in various proportions with yellow ochre, produces a rich
warm tint on the white paper, preparing it to receive other colours with
an harmonious effect. With gamboge or Indian yellow, in different
proportions, it forms fine glowing hues of autumnal foliage.
BEOWN PINK.
A vegetable pigment, made from French berries or dye-woods. It is
DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS.
50
a rich orange green, much used to form the greens of the foreground. It is
easily varied by a small quantity of indigo or transparent yellow.
VANDYKE BROWN.
This is a fine deep transparent colour, used in the warm rich browns of
the foreground. When mixed with indigo or French blue, it forms a deep
neutral green, very effective in representing the shadows of trees in water.
Like the other brown pigments, it does not retire well, but appears con-
stantly near the eye. Brown madder should take its place in the middle
distance, or it should be subdued by the more aerial blues.
SEPIA.
This pigment is made from the dark liquor procured from the cuttle-fish,
and is of a dusky brown colour. It works well, and being agreeable in
colour, is used as the medium for brush-practice. It harmonises well with
French blue, with which, and Chinese white, it has been employed on gray
paper in the present work. This mode of using it forms an excellent
introduction to the use of colours.
payne’s gray.
This is one of the numerous preparations of neutral tints supplied by
the manufacturers ; but it is generally better for the artist to make these
combinations for himself. Sometimes, however, as is the case with the
present pigment, the colourman’s constituents are so well chosen and
incorporated, that the result surpasses any thing that can be obtained at
the moment by the use either of sepia and indigo or madder and other
lakes, combined with indigo or French blue.
IVORY BLACK.
The best black pigment is that which has the most neutral tone and the
greatest transparency. Ivory black, when well prepared, possesses these
qualities in a high degree. Diluted, it forms pure grays, very useful in
skies, distances, &c. As black in full force destroys all appearance of
60
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
atmosphere, it is never used in that state for water-colour painting, unless in
a single spot on a figure in the foreground.
INDIGO
Is a well-known pigment, made from different species of the indigo-fera and
other plants. Though not so bright as Prussian or Antwerp blue, it is more
powerful ; and being equally transparent, is very useful for forming the rich
strong greens of foreground foliage. But, although indigo is so useful, the
student should employ it with caution, as greens made with it are apt to
appear cold and black. Prussian blue may, in some instances, be sub-
stituted for it, and greens suitable for the foreground can also be made
with sepia and Indian yellow, or blue black and gamboge.
FRENCH BLUE, OR FRENCH ULTRA-MARINE.
A factitious ultra-marine, prepared by Guimet and other manufacturers,
at Paris and elsewhere. Some fine specimens were sent from Strasburg to
the Exhibition of 1851. Being powerful, and working well, it is, in many
cases, a good substitute for the real ultra-marine. It is not considered
quite safe to use in oil-painting ; but for water-colours, it is supposed to be
durable.
COBALT BLUE.
Of all our blue pigments this is the most suitable for skies and
distances. It works well, but is rather opaque ; and, as now manufactured,
possesses almost as much purity and brilliancy as the real ultra-marine. It
is deficient in depth ; but this does not prevent its employment in the
aerial grays of the distance and clouds.
PAPER.
61
SECTION III.— ON PAPER, TINTED PAPERS, &c.
is to be represented in our drawing by the white surface of the paper va-
riously modified by transparent washes. This surface, therefore, must be
preserved as pure as possible, the forms of the highest lights being left in
nearly the same shape as they are intended to be in the finished picture ; for
when once the light is degraded, we have no power of recovering it with the
purity given by the paper in the first instance. In oil-painting, on the con-
trary, white pigments are employed to represent light ; the latter being
obtained by gradually painting up from the half lights to those of the
highest power ; but in water-colour painting the paper itself represents the
highest lights ; and in those parts of the subject where these are not to
remain pure, the surface is toned down by delicate and often-repeated washes.
Paper for water-colours, consequently, should possess some of the quali-
ties of the best white pigments used by the oil-painters. It should be of a
pure white, so that the most delicate tints may be used on it without under-
going alteration ; and opaque, in order that it may reflect the light falling
upon it, without much loss by absorption. The surface should be rather
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
62
rough, with a round or convex kind of grain, and free from sharp or an-
gular depressions ; the colour being apt to settle in these depressions, and
cause spots which cannot be easily removed. Light falls on the varied sur-
face of this description of paper with ever-changing degrees of intensity ;
and being reflected by it, causes much play and variety in tint on this un-
even texture, yet allows the sight to pass, as it were, between the minute
portions of colour, and gives them the effect of a pure stippled tint.
A surface that is ribbed, or in lines, is not well adapted to light and deli-
cate drawings, as the lines are likely to interfere with the forms. Thiek
paper, well sized, is to be preferred. It possesses more body and opacity,
and is not liable to blister, or alter with the various tints and washes ; it is
also less likely to be cut or rubbed through during the different processes.
Whatman’s drawing-papers are considered the best — the rough imperial,
weighing 140 lbs. to the ream, for general purposes, and the extra double
elephant and antiquarian for larger works. Artists avoid the use of hot-
pressed or fine-grained paper, as the surface does not hold the colour well,
or admit of the repeated washings which are sometimes necessary.
The right side of drawing-paper may be ascertained by holding it up to
the light, when the maker’s name will be seen in its true position ; or by
bringing it obliquely to the eye, when the surface will be found perfect
on the side intended for use. The other side being sometimes scratched by
the removal of knots and blemishes from the paper, would take colour very
unequally.
It is a frequent mistake with young persons to suppose that, because
some artists have used a coarse impure paper with success, it expedites the
drawing ; for the portions of straw and other impurities, which occur in
those parts representing the sky or distance, counteract the effect of the
purest tints, and can only be regarded as so many blemishes. Sufficient
variety of texture can be obtained on a pure white paper ; and if a ground
tint be required, it can be laid on of any colour or depth on the pure
surface, and thus afford opportunities of obtaining the lights, either by
scraping out, or adding with them an opaque white.
It is much to be regretted, that there is not some process by which paper
can be dried without hanging the sheets across rods, as this always causes
PAPER.
63
some difference in tlie grain at the part touching the rod ; and even with the
most perfect stretching, the paper is rarely strained flat. The maker’s name
in the middle of the sheet is also objectionable, for it often becomes visible
in the sky or other parts of the finished drawing ; it might be placed with
advantage in the extreme corner. Since the first edition of this work,
Messrs. Whatman have manufactured paper of imperial and double ele-
phant sizes without these defects ; they have also lately made a magnificent
antiquarian paper, guaranteed by the signature of Messrs. Winsor and
Newton, as perfectly pure. We have reason to believe that the best white
drawing-papers made by them are as little likely to change as any that can
be manufactured.
The usual panelled or clamped drawing-board is generally adopted for
large drawings (these should be made by a careful carpenter, with well-
seasoned wood and without knots) ; and the well-known mahogany stretch-
ing-board is used for smaller studies. But whatever kind be used, the paper
must be well stretched and flat. If it is a large and important work, it should
be kept on the board, and be carefully guarded still further from the noxious
vapour of gas or bad air, which might penetrate even through fissures, and
alter the tones, or deposit dust. To avoid this, the whole back of the
board should be carefully covered with thick impervious tin-foil, or a thin
sheet of metal, which should be cemented with a proper cement on to the
glass, thus effectually excluding the air. The drawing should not touch the
glass. To stretch paper well, it should be placed, with the right side up-
wards, over another sheet of paper upon a table ; it should then be wetted
with a clean sponge and soft water ; and when well soaked, it should be
turned, and the operation repeated on the other side. After some time the
extra moisture should be removed with a clean cloth, and the board, mea-
suring about two inches less each way, laid on. A square piece being cut
out of each corner of the paper, the edges should be carefully glued, turned
over, and rubbed down. Common glue is the best cement for the purpose,
as with it the paper can be more firmly fixed and tensely stretched than by
the use of any other material. The old method of pasting paper on boards
is exceedingly dangerous to the colours, as they are apt to be altered by the
changes in the paste.
64
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
There are solid sketch-books, consisting of a number of sheets of paper
compressed together, and glued at the edges. They save much trouble
in straining ; and by passing a knife beneath the sketch it may be easily
removed when completed ; but they do not permit much washing and drying,
as the edges are easily loosened by water.
When large landscapes are painted, it is sometimes desirable to have
considerable difference between the texture of the sky and that of the fore-
ground. To obtain this end, a sheet of moderately fine antiquarian paper is
selected, and the subject slightly sketched on it ; after which the foreground
and middle portion are covered by a sheet of Whatman’s coarse paper,
called rough double elephant. An outline of some of the most prominent
forms is then to be made ; taking care to select those which, crossing the
subject, present as much irregularity as possible, and are under shadow.
The rough paper must be cut with a sharp penknife by this line, and the
under edge scraped thin. Both the sheets having been equally wetted, the
under side of the rough paper must be carefully covered with thick starch
(particular care being taken in applying the starch well on the outline or
cut edge),, and then placed on the large smooth paper and rubbed down.
The compound sheets may now be carefully glued and stretched on the
board. The junction of these two qualities of paper should not be allowed
to take place in the extreme distance, nor against the sky. .
ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS.
Paper of various tints and shades has of late years been much employed
by artists, both in sketching from nature and in pursuing preliminary studies
in chalk of the various effects, particularly those of light and shade, pre-
sented in the landscape ; these, before commencing the picture, they find
it advantageous to make in a broad and simple manner. The advantage
of an intermediate tone on the surface of the paper consists in the fact
that, as every degree of light and shade, either above or below the tint
of the ground, is intentionally added, so every touch of Chinese white, sig-
nifying light, must be laid on with a view to enhance the general effect ;
and thus no patches of light can be left scattered about in a careless un-
meaning manner. In this way these papers afford great facilities for the
ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS.
65
truthful arrangement of masses of light and shade, on which account they
are particularly useful when sketching from nature, with the view of
studying the general composition of the picture ; but when colour is the
object of study, pure white paper supplies the best surface for the purpose :
for if the paper inclines to any particular hue, every wash of colour laid on
it loses its distinctive character.
There is an abundant choice of tinted papers, from the coldest blue to
the warmest orange ; but rejecting positive colours, such as blue, yellow, or
reddish browns, let the student select the more pleasing tints presented
either by some of the neutral hues, or tertiary compounds, such as light
russets, and delicate aerial grays, inclining to purple rather than green
(which quality of tone is decidedly prejudicial in the skies), or by the
warmer tints produced with various proportions of yellow ochre and brown
madder. The particular tint or shade employed should be selected with
reference to the auxiliary power it may give the sketch in conveying the
impression, either of warmth or coolness, produced on the eye by the
natural scene ; this impression being best assisted by a bold and rapid
touch. Studies of this kind are generally made with materials the most
easily manipulated, and sketches thus taken remain unaltered as remi-
niscences of the truth of nature, standards with which to compare
combinations of form, light and shade, and colour, as progress is made
towards one harmonious whole in the finished picture. In these sketches
the end is not attained by covering the whole surface of the paper, either
with the white pigment or the black chalk, but only by using them respec-
tively to represent the stronger lights and shadows, leaving much of the
paper between these two extremes untouched ; for as the larger portion of
every subject consists of middle tint, that of the paper gives an appearance
of solidity and reality to the slightest sketch. Before commencing his
study, the student should ascertain the direction of the light, and, the
portion of the sky surrounding the sun being, of course, the lightest, he
should pay particular attention to the position of that luminary. As a
general rule, it will be found that all parts of the sky and clouds are lighter
in tone than objects on the earth, as mountains, trees, rocks, &c. ; the local
or natural colour of buildings or parts of figures, however, being contrasted
F
66
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
with the darker objects surrounding them, must be represented even
lighter than the lights of the sky. The subject once sketched in, a general
tint of white with cobalt and crimson lake may be given with rather a
drier brush than is used in laying on a wash of transparent water-colours ;
the addition of white allowing the brush to be passed to and fro in any
direction, renders it comparatively easy to lay this tint perfectly even. It is
important to observe that, although this tint in any quantity appears nearly
opaque, yet it must be laid on so lightly as to become semi-transparent,
permitting the colour of the paper to appear through it, and thus influencing
the general tone, producing an effect similar to that of scumbling in oil-
painting ; applying it too thickly destroys the appearance of atmosphere and
causes it to lose its transparency : this first tint applied, others composed of
warmer colours and white may follow, until at last the highest lights are
put on thick and opaque. Body colour is an important element in this
style of drawing, as it increases the appearance of light, while, on the con-
trary, repeated washes of transparent colour darken the tone. Trees and
other objects, the local or natural colour of which is dark, should not have
this lighter tint added, but the portion of the paper occupied by their forms
should be slightly sketched out, and then left untouched; however, as
objects in nature are seldom equally relieved in all parts of their outline,
these light tints should not be placed with equal force all round the lines
delineating such objects, as this would give them the unnatural appearance
of being cut out. The general effect being gained, the sky surrounding the
objects crossing it should be left undefined, unless it be desirable to make
one more conspicuous than the others, when the strongest light may be
brought into contrast with this object. A very agreeable effect is sometimes
given by showing light clouds behind the stems or branches of trees ; but
this must not be often repeated ; as if so, it becomes unnatural and tricky.
Chinese white in a pure state is rarely used even on the brightest object ;
to give it a sunlight appearance a little warm colour should be added. Baw
Sienna, having a rich sunny character, is very suitable for this purpose.
The mode of adding the lights in the foreground can be slightly varied by
using the pigment rather drier and more opaque, and by dragging the brush,
charged with it, over the surface, so as to leave it unequal ; thus increasing
DUGARRY, ARRAN
ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS.
07
the effect of roughness and variety in the texture. Lights on those parts of
old stone buildings, rocks, &c., which have the sunlight strong upon them,
or come against the edge or shadow, may be painted with fulness and
decision, and afterwards softened by the process of dragging the brush side-
ways, or partly removed with a sharp knife. The more delicate forms of
clouds or tones in the sky may, in like manner, be softened or subdued by
rubbing bread. When only a slight modification of the tint of the paper
is required, and a little increase of tone not objectionable, a wash of
some warm colour without the white may be passed over the part to be
altered ; but this should be done with caution, so that its influence may
scarcely be perceived.
Used in the way above indicated, tinted papers are of great service
to the artist, who, however, while having recourse to them, must be careful
to guard against the abuse of colours in this form of practice. As a general
rule, white (however well tempered or modified) should be applied with
moderation, and never on any part of an object in shadow ; even though
that object may be white and subject to strong reflection, it must be strictly
reserved for objects light in colour when illuminated by the sun. It may be
well to mention, that if the student uses the brush and colours he should
select tinted paper that is well sized, the grain or surface not being in this
case so important ; but if he uses chalk, he should choose paper which is
not only sized, but smooth, thick, and equal in texture ; such are to be
found without being hot-pressed. If harsh rough-grained paper is chosen,
it will be found, when used in the sun, much too coarse, although, by
the side of falling water, or in the damp of the evening, it becomes softer.
Some tints have a tendency to change their colour by time or exposure to
gases, and this may be detected by referring to one of the small books of
patterns which has been exposed to these influences. Chalk drawings made
with these materials can be readily fixed by passing them through a weak
solution of gum arabic and hot water, in the proportion of about half an
ounce to a pint ; they are afterwards hung up to dry, and the lower end
touched with a soft cloth to take off the superfluous water. For an example
of this style of drawing the student is referred to Plate V., a slight sketch
made in the north of Arran, near Loch Eanza. Those who may happen to
F 2
68
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
see two copies of this edition will perceive that, for the sake of variety, it
has been treated in two different ways, — morning and evening ; in one, the
brightest and most attractive light has been placed on the stones of the old
bridge in the foreground, and this is made still more interesting by a group
of figures ; in the other, a single figure, as before, stands upon the bridge,
which is now in shadow from some passing cloud. This shadow may be
indicated by a hasty wash of colour harmonising with the tint of the
paper, not attracting attention as colour, but merely bringing the effect to a
focus by increase of strength ; in this case only a few strokes or touches,
with the chalk are added to prevent it looking cold or vapid. In the first,
the group has been somewhat increased in interest, so that the view might,
if desirable, have been called by a different title, such as would direct the
attention more to the immediate foreground — thus, “ The long wished-for
arrival.” The reader will understand this much better by recollecting some
picture of Collins, or Hooks, in which the chief interest is placed on the
group in the foreground, but intimately connected with the distance, either
by the position or action of the figures.
Should the student not find any tinted papers to suit his taste, we
recommend him to make them for himself, using good white paper well
stretched. This is good practice in laying large flat washes ; and to do it
well, the paper must be damped either at the back or on the face, and while
still damp the wash may be floated on with a large brush. The tone may
be slightly gradated in strength, from the sky to the foreground, or from
one side to the other, to suit the subject, but it is as well not to attempt
much alteration in colour. On tints thus prepared one can readily take out
lights, either sharp and decided, with the scraper or knife, or by the usual
process of wetting and rubbing out.
Notwithstanding the great advantages that this style of drawing affords
for the purpose of rapid sketching, and the study of light and shade, the
student in colour is strongly recommended to make all his studies from
nature, and the copies of plates and diagrams from this work on pure white
paper ; for it has been observed that those who continually use the pencil or
chalk and tinted papers are in great danger of having their eye vitiated by
the conventional colour of the paper ; even a slight monotonous warm tone
ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS.
69
is, in the author’s opinion, exceedingly prejudicial to a true appreciation of
the different delicate and continually gradating tones we find in nature.
We are all far too easily satisfied with an artificially coloured medium, and
soon learn to look upon tints inclosed by an outline as natural colours,
whereas they can be but approximations to the general tone, and are
frequently quite unlike the local colour of many of the objects. If this
style is carried on too long, the judgment, and even the perception, of the
student become warped, and his future studies in true colouring made more
difficult. If one faculty is over-cultivated, it is often at the expense of
others ; and thoughts and ideas being conveyed with more facility by that
means, we naturally fly to it on every occasion. Thus, if a pupil is kept
too long to outline or form, he perceives it at the expense of light and shade
and colour. Again, there are well-known instances in which artists are
such devoted admirers of colour, that form and chiaroscuro are totally
wanting in their works, and wherever we see them we have only to admire
the exquisite refinement of some portion of colour, — a beautiful warm gray
in clouds, indicative of rain, — a rich and mellow green, — or a combination
of colour of extraordinary beauty, but exceedingly artificial, and therefore
very fatiguing to the eye when often repeated. Let each power be trained
in due order ; the perception and imitation of form first, then light and
shade, and lastly colour, the chief subject of this work ; and our student,
being supposed to have already passed through the first studies, the brief
notes on these papers, with composition, light and shade, &c., are only
introduced to remind him of their importance ; but we advise him now to
give his principal attention to the study of nature with the brush and
colour on white paper.
Before concluding these notes on tinted papers, it must be remarked
that glazed boards with printed graduated tints of bright blue for the sky,
passing into red or yellow for the foreground, and on which the lights must
be scraped out, are in bad taste, producing effects unlike any in nature.
Those attempting the appearance of a sunset, even supposing the colours
well arranged and true, are only adapted to represent one particular effect
and one description of view, as of a level country, or a barren sandy
common ; a sea-shore is quite out of the question, for the sea is neither
70
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
yellow nor red. Again, when a tree or a building rises into the sky, it is
necessary to alter the tone in that part (a most difficult operation by
scraping), or the object would be blue. These preparations of glaring and
false colours attract only the uneducated, and drawings made on their
manufactured skies and bright coloured foregrounds may, with respect to
art, be classed with embossed coloured representations of animals and fruit,
or with papier-mach4 tea-boards, having pieces of mother-of-pearl inserted
to represent the lights of the landscape. The use of all such adventitious
aids is not merely a waste of time, it is a complete barrier to the advance of
truth of colouring. Under this impression, the author considers it his duty,
as one engaged in the art-education of youth, to condemn the practice in the
strongest terms.
BRUSHES.
Fine brown sable brushes of the round form are best for general use ;
they should always be regular or domed in their shape, and in all the best
sable brushes this regularity is produced by placing the hair with the
greatest care, and not by grinding the point ; they should not be so long
and flat at the sides as to be weak, but with the hair so arranged that they
return to a fair point even without water. In choosing brushes most
artists try the strength, spring, or resistance of the hair, and observe
whether it is irregular in the curve while dry ; afterwards, with water, some
hair, such as the red sable, has much more resistance in it, but does not
allow so much facility in working ; this kind comes between the brown
sable and the hog-hair, so much used in oil. These are more useful in
dragging or making separated touches than in laying on washes. All
brushes, whether round or flat, should return to their original shape after
every touch or wash. Care should be taken not to leave them in water, or
allow them to dry charged with colour or white. A small strong India-
rubber ring is useful to hold two or more together, that their points, being
turned in, may not be injured when shaken against the end of the chalk-
box. One or two of these rounded forms are sufficient for the young artist’s
first practice ; but they should be large, as, by using a large brush, he
acquires freedom of hand. When he can thoroughly command this kind,
BRUSHES.
71
and he desires greater variety of touch or texture, he wiH find brushes of
all shapes and length of hair at the artists’ colourmen. Some are made flat,
and with the hair arranged so as to separate easily into hairy strokes or
touches supposed to represent the leaves of trees or grass. For this purpose,
as weH as rubbing in the first tints of trees or the tints of firm studies, the
usual hog-hair brush is useful ; for if a gummy vehicle is used, it allows the
colour to be spread with more regularity. A flat camel-hair brush, about an
inch and a half wide, is necessary for the skies and first tints in large
works ; a round camel-hair brush is also used for the same purpose ; these
holding a plentiful supply of colour, facilitate the laying on of broad tints
evenly. They are also useful in softening those tints which are too heavy.
Brushes should not be put into the mouth to point them, but if necessary
they may be drawn on a soft cloth to discharge the superabundant moisture,
and they may thus be formed into the desired shape.
For those who wish for less expensive brushes, the Siberian, or dyed hair,
are found to have most of the necessary qualifications. As sable brushes
are costly, and are soon worn out, the young artist may economise them
by care ; using, for instance, a broad camel-hair brush to lay on the first
washes, for in covering large surfaces of rough paper the delicate brush is
much worn and driven out of shape. An old sable, the point of which may
be too much worn for precise touches, ought to be used for washing over
skies or broad tints, or when the brush is worked upwards and into the
grain of the paper to get rid of inequalities. Above all, the sable brush
used for pure water-colour drawing with transparent pigments, should never
be filled with opaque white for drawing on tinted or other papers.
Although we are desirous to mention all the appliances that ingenious
workmen present to the followers of dexterous execution, we may caution
the young student in placing too much reliance on any of his materials for
the chief beauty of his works ; let him try, of course, to gain a mastery over
his instruments, and ascertain those that aid him best to express his ideas,
but he must not allow his attention to be too much engrossed with these
minor points, for he may be in danger of becoming a mere mannerist, with-
out any of the higher thoughts of an artist about him. It would not be
difficult, but might be invidious, to point out works in our galleries where
72
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the artists are indebted for their chief attraction to a peculiar paper, either
in texture or tint ; others are fascinated by extraordinary brushes, producing
a wiry, hairy, or mossy touch ; while some, running to the other extreme,
dab on great masses of colour with a large round brush. He will do well,
therefore, after learning to express his ideas with facility, to avoid using any
material or instrument that is likely to lead him away from the simplicity
united to variety that he finds in nature.
VEHICLES AND MEDIUMS.
Before we conclude this chapter on the materials employed by the water-
colour painter, we must add a few words on the use of the vehicles or me-
diums by which pigments are conveyed to the paper. While water-colours
were used merely for the purpose of washing in a hasty effect or taking a
memorandum of the colours seen in nature, it would matter little what
pigments or vehicles were employed. The backs of letters, brushes made of
the commonest hair, and water from the next source, were quite sufficient
for these hasty memoranda ; but now that painting, done in this mode,
occupies the whole attention and talents of some of our greatest artists, we
must scrupulously examine every material that they employ, that we may
adopt at once, from the beginning of our studies, the safest and most eligible
means to convey our ideas, and secure the durability of our labour. It is
notorious to all that the vehicles and mediums employed in oil-painting are
the source of greater changes in the colours and effects than even the pig-
ments themselves ; therefore in such comparatively simple compounds as
the water-colour painter uses we should hardly have expected any observa-
tions necessary ; but as the mode of operation is enlarged, and every endea-
vour used to assimilate it in power to oil-painting, we ought to see that we
employ perfectly safe materials. Vehicle, a term borrowed from pharmacy,
signifies that material which is employed in painting to distribute, to combine,
and secure the colours forming the representation of nature. There is no
doubt that the colours of pigments are greatly affected by the substances
that are held in solution by the vehicles we employ ; and even water, the
simplest of all these, should be pure ; it should be distilled or rain-water.
VEHICLES AND MEDIUMS.
73
Field says, “ In all hard and impure waters, colours are disposed to separate
and curdle, so that it is often impossible a clear flowing wash, or gradation
of colour, should be obtained with them. Solution of gums, ox-gall, &c.
correct, without entirely overcoming, these defects of the water ; but they
are often inconvenient, if not injurious.” Of all the gums, Senegal is the
strongest. Tragacanth appears, from its gelatinous texture, to preserve the
touch of the pencil, and prevent the flowing of some colours ; but gum
arabic is the best adapted for general use with water-colours, as it does not
degrade the more delicate pigments, and yet bears out the colours well : it
should be picked, dissolved in cold water, and strained ; and either used
fresh, or preserved by the addition of a small portion of carbonate of am-
monia, which should be incorporated with it — one scruple of the powdered
carbonate to an ounce of the gum, dissolved by maceration in two or three
ounces of cold water. Isinglass mixed with gum is also much used in
water-colour painting ; it is thick, and looks like the megilp used in oil-
painting. There is also another vehicle for enhancing and strengthening
colours ; it is a solution of borax in water and gum tragacanth. This, Mr.
Hammon J ones (who has received from the Society of Arts a medal for the
discovery) found dried sufficiently firm to allow tints to be repeatedly laid
one over another without moving or washing up. We must add, borax is,
however, said to affect vegetable colours.
White of egg is also employed to mix with colours ; it causes them
to blend more agreeably and evenly on the paper, and adds to the
brilliancy of their appearance ; the pigments also retain their moisture
longer, and allow of the longer working. It is very important to have a
vehicle that permits of a variety of handling, and taking out before it dries
or hardens, but the young student must use all such vehicles with caution
and sparingly, otherwise they may crack and peel off. In this semi-firm
state many forms may be scratched out with a knife or the end of a pencil-
stick, and thus a variety given to the touch, preventing it from looking so
mechanical. The yolk of eggs is also used as a stopping-out liquid : the
lights that are to be left are stopped out with this previous to laying on
the flat washes to blots of colour. When these touches are well dried, the
colour is blotted on, and does not disturb them. The lights are regained
74
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
by rubbing with bread or India-rubber ; it is most used for foliage and the
sharp lights in the foreground.
Should the colours or washes not be evenly laid on, or attach themselves
to, the paper, a little gall may be dissolved in the water : a small piece about
the size of a pea, dropped in the glass of water, or a few drops of the solu-
tion, will be sufficient. The young amateur should be warned not to use
honey or sugar with his cake colours to make them moist, both attracting
flies or other insects, and also damp. It is better to use the pigments in
as pure a state as possible, either in powder ground into a little gum arabic,
in cake, or moist, prepared by the best manufacturer : perhaps a little gli-
cerine is as simple as anything to add to the pigments to keep them moist.
In conclusion, let us keep in mind that the purer the pigments can be laid
on the paper, the better, with just so much vehicle that they will attach
themselves well, but not so much that they will crack or peel off : in gene-
ral, it will be found that all the light and delicate washes and tints will
want nothing more than the gum they are manufactured with. In the
darker tints or glazings we may use with discretion the other vehicles that
are mentioned, keeping in mind that gums generally do not facilitate the
spreading of colour, but should rather be reserved for enhancing the rich
deep tones of the foreground.
CHAPTER III.
ON ELEMENTARY PRACTICE.
SECTION I.— ON COMPOSITION.
HATEVER description of com-
position may ultimately engage the
attention of the student, an intimate
acquaintance with the fundamental principles
which regulate every successful attempt of art
in imitating nature, must be of the first importance. Consequently,
before he approaches the more attractive and ornamental art of colouring,
these principles, and the rules deduced from them, which are the only sure
foundation of future progress, must be firmly impressed upon his mind.
Any attempt to please by a picture which, though possessing the most har-
monious arrangement of charming tints, is defective in regard to the choice
of objects, in lines misplaced, or faulty in perspective, would be utterly vain
and fruitless. Errors like these would undoubtedly offend both the eye and
taste of an intelligent observer ; and that too in such a degree that any
praise he might bestow upon the beauty of the colouring, would be accom-
panied by the regret that powers, capable of so much in one branch of the
76
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
art, should yet be so deficient in those on which all truthful representation
depends.
Colour, the author is compelled to acknowledge, even in a work devoted
like the present to its especial consideration, is subordinate to form and
light and shade ; for, although more attractive, it is, in the representation of
nature, the least important of the three.
In studying from nature, the student, in the first instance, would do well
to consider colour as so much light and shade, giving to the different hues
that portion of shade to which they are equivalent. Truthfulness in fornj
and light must predominate. This object being effected, representations in
colour may be given with great effect, even in an engraving, in which the tones
are all neutral. Colour, however, adds a most powerful charm to all works
of landscape art, and greatly assists in elucidating the beauties of nature.
In a work of this description it is not requisite to enter fully into the
consideration of composition ; since it may be presumed that those who
consult these pages have already made some advances in the practice of
drawing, and received that education of the eye, and that training of the
hand, which are calculated to render students capable of imitating the forms
presented to their view. For this reason, it will suffice to notice only some
of the most important points connected with the choice of a subject and the
composition of a picture.
As in poetry, no poem, however beautiful its imagery, can be deemed
perfect without some peculiar thought or sentiment prevailing throughout ;
so in painting, no picture, how brilliant soever its colouring, will excite any
pleasurable emotion in the mind of the spectator, unless some predominant
idea, or intention, pervades the whole.
Composition is the art of arranging the forms or objects that constitute
a picture. In a higher sense, it may be considered as the study necessary
in choosing a subject for representation, and deciding the point of view best
adapted to render it effective. In either case, that leading idea and unity of pur-
pose, so essential both to the poem and the picture, must be strictly observed.
In Landscape Painting, the picture may be described as being that por-
tion of nature visible at one time, and from one spot. Neither the head nor
the eye should be moved ; any such change giving more than can be taken
ON COMPOSITION.
77
in at one moment, and so presenting a picture of the panoramic class. The
artist must he content to limit his view of the subject immediately before
him to a space occupying about 60° of the circle.
This being understood, the artist may proceed to consider what objects
within that view are most suitable for representation ; being guided in this
respect by the rules adapted to aid him in the selection. The choice having
been made, his next care must be, bearing in mind the former remark, to
guard against any wandering either of the eye or the thoughts to other
parts of the landscape.
While studying perspective, the pupil will have learnt to consider the
paper, on which he is to trace the outline of the scene before him, as a
transparent medium between himself and the object. Suppose, instead of a
transparent medium, he holds up his sketching-folio at a moderate arm’s
length between his eye and the view ; it will hide just so much of the latter
as his paper will contain. Should he require more of one object than of
another, he can move the folio in any direction, until it covers all such parts
as he wishes to include in his picture. When its distance from the eye
equals its length, the folio will hide nearly as much space as the eye can
embrace without difficulty. The distance is regulated by the principles of
perspective ; and, if increased, the height and width of the picture must be
increased in proportion, or a smaller portion of the landscape will be in-
cluded. It will, however, be shown, in a future page, that this rule admits
of exceptions.
Another point, in the arrangement of a picture, is, that the person look-
ing at it should be made to feel as if he were placed in the position of the
artist when sketching the view. To accomplish this, the lines must be
represented so truthfully, that the objects on the flat surface of the paper
may appear to be at the same relative distances from the eye at which the
real objects were seen. This being skilfully done, it will at once be evident
whether the sketch was taken from high or low ground, or whether more of
the subject was to the right or to the left of the spectator. To assist in
arriving at this result, the frame of the sketching-folio may be held up in a
vertical position, so as to form the boundary-lines on the fop, the base, and
the two sides of the intended picture. In this position the artist will find
78
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the perpendicular and horizontal lines supplied by the frame extremely
useful ; as he may, from time to time, compare with them the lines of his
progressing subject.
The first studies of composition should be faithful transcripts of the lines,
as they appear in nature. Subjects having simple forms should be selected,
and from these no deviation should be permitted. A firm and perhaps
severe style will be the result. By this practice the mind becomes stored
with images so clear and distinct as never to be forgotten.
Should the student, when more advanced, find the position which he has
chosen deficient in any particular point, he will then have the power to re-
call forms previously studied, and which may be more suitable to the view
he is representing ; or he may change his position, until he perceives that
the arrangement of the lines is agreeable. He should, however, place some
restraint upon himself, in introducing too great a variety ; as continual
change, whether it be in outline, light and shade, or colour, produces satiety,
and fatigues the attention, — simplicity of parts and lines being at all times
necessary to produce repose.
After a little practice in composition, the student will become aware that
lines, receding from the forepart or base line of the picture, assist the per-
spective, and induce a true estimation of the distance of the objects ; while
those parallel to it
only conduct the
eye from side to
side. A position,
therefore, if possi-
ble, should be cho-
sen, so as to avoid
these parallel lines ;
for the mind being
unconsciously in-
fluenced by the
direction of the lines in a picture, a road, a path, or a river, may serve to
increase the interest, by conducting the eye into space, and directing the
attention towards the distance, or special points of the subject. (Tig. 1.)
Fig. 1.
ON COMPOSITION.
70
Any position in which the ruts of a road rise perpendicularly from the
base line, should he changed for one that presents them inclining either to
the right or the left, — the former creating a difficulty without any compen-
sating advantage.
By this selection of station, great alteration may he made in the
disposition of the quantities or proportions which the different parts of
the subject hear to each other. In Big. 1, a few steps to the right would
have caused the lines in the road to have presented the difficulty pointed
out above. In another position the summit of the mountain would have
been placed exactly in the centre of the distant opening. By this careful
consideration, the lines of either the cliffs or hills may be prevented from
appearing parallel to each other, or to the side lines of the picture. In
the same way the termination of promontories may be varied so as not
to appear exactly under one another, — an error of position to be avoided.
In Big. 1, the angular forms of the mountain are contrasted with the
straight line of the lake ; and the rounded forms of the clouds and woods
make an agreeable variety with the more severe lines of the rocks.
In selecting the station, it must be remarked that the least difference of
position causes a change of form in the nearest parts or foreground ; but to
produce any alteration in the shapes of the distant mountains, it will be
necessary to remove to a considerable distance from the position previously
selected.
An instance of
the use made of
lines, in directing the
attention to the chief
point of interest, may
be deduced from the
celebrated picture of
the Last Supper, by
Leonardo Da Yinci,
where the beams of Fig. 2.
the ceiling, the boards of the floor, and even the folds of the table-cloth, all
lead the eye towards the head of the Saviour.
80
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
A balance of the interest does not necessarily mean that equal quantities
of the subject should be placed on each side of the picture. A great prepon-
derance may exist on one side, and yet be sufficiently balanced on the other
by a group of figures, by light and shade, or even by a broad glow of colour,
as in a brilliant sunset. Other effects will form a subject for future con-
sideration. The above are here introduced, in order that the student, while
arranging the lines of his picture, may bear them in mind in connexion
with the other important precepts of the art ; not thinking, however, that
form only can balance form, or colour balance colour. Neither is it essen-
tial that the principal points of interest should be in the centre of the whole
picture ; for instance, should a group of figures divide the interest with the
rest of the subject, it may be placed at the side (vide Fig. 3 — A Party of
Pleasure). The
figures here
doubtless form
the chief point
of interest ;
but the dis-
tant spot to
which they are
bound being
dimly depict-
ed through the
rain, serves to
Fig. 3. A PARTY OP PLEASURE. ARRAN. indicate the
disappointment of the party ; while the idea is further assisted by the
introduction of the dog, evidently dragged unwillingly along, and looking
back with regret towards the warm chimney-nook he has left behind.
In all these cases the student must recollect that one attractive element
may successfully balance another of a different character ; and so, without
undue formality, preserve the general harmony of the composition. (Figs.
2 and 3.)
The line which has the most influence on the direction of all the others
in the picture is the horizon or horizontal line. This is easily distinguished,
ON COMPOSITION.
81
either when the spectator is standing on the sea-shore, or on a level country ;
but even when not seen, as in a mountainous view, or close wood, it must
still be indicated in the drawing by a line parallel to the base, and extend-
ing from side to side of the picture. This horizontal line varies with the
position chosen, and should always indicate the height of the eye of the
painter, or indeed of the eye of any person looking at the picture ; its place
must therefore be determined at the very commencement of a drawing. It
is generally situated at such a distance from the base-line as equals about
one-third of the height of the picture ; thus allowing one-third land and
two-thirds sky ; but when the view is taken from the sea-beach, or the
objects are intended to be much above the eye, it is better placed at only a
fourth or fifth of this distance above the base. On the contrary, should the
view be taken from an eminence, the horizontal line will rise with the
change, and be nearer the top than the base. As the other lines of the
picture are more pleasing, and the whole more agreeable when there are
unequal, rather than equal, spaces above and below this line, it should
never divide the subject exactly in the middle. For similar reasons, the
point of sight (always being, as the student is aware, opposite the eye, on
the horizontal line) should be placed more or less either to the right or to
the left of the centre; as, by thus presenting more of the subject on one
side than the other, we avoid formality, and advantageously change the
angles of the general lines.
In regard to distance, only one portion of a landscape is in a proper
position to be seen distinctly at one time ; for, unconsciously to ourselves, the
focus is altered every time we look at objects at different distances. This
change, with its consequences, is most important when occurring in the space
between the immediate foreground and the middle distance. Beyond that
distance, the change, though continually taking place, is less apparent.
However, as all the objects represented in a picture are placed at the same
actual distance from the eye, we should select such a spot in the natural
view as we desire to render most attractive in the drawing ; then, assuming
that particular spot to be our focus, the other parts should be rendered less
and less apparent by being less finished in proportion as their distance from
that point increases. In this way, the eye being led to dwell with the
G
82
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
greatest interest on the most important point, the impression made by the
whole will, as nearly as possible, resemble that produced by the correspond-
ing view of nature. The extreme boundaries of all objects become indis-
tinct when seen at a distance ; angular and square objects losing their
corners, and taking a round or oval form. In like manner, the angles of
our squared pictures or views become less distinctly evident ; and by these
means the eye is in some degree confined to the imaginary oval form con-
tained within the boundary of the outline. This natural effect the artist
imitates by arranging the principal objects within an oval space ; at the
same time aiding the general result by so disposing and modifying the lines
as not only to keep the eye from wandering out of the picture, but also to
concentrate the attention on the object intended to represent the chief point
of interest. At other times he varies the oval form according to the subject
he has to portray ; but whatever form he may adopt, simplicity in arranging
points of interest should be his chief aim, and no doubt or hesitation ought
to be felt in the mind of the spectator as to which is the principal object of
the picture. With this view, he will arrange such parts of his subject as
are at his disposal so as to keep up the interest of the whole. Some parts
of the picture are so evidently well suited for any object of attraction, that
they are sometimes called the strong points of a picture, such as the group
occupies in Fig. 2, p. 79.
The well-known painting of “Bolton Abbey,” by Landseer, offers a
striking example of the dexterity with which this is sometimes accomplished.
Here the oval form, without any apparent effort, is so skilfully preserved
within the squared boundary-lines of the picture, that the eye is, as it were,
fastened on the principal object. This beautiful effect is attained by the
artistic arrangement of the accessories, the heads of the figures, the game,
dogs, and even a censer with smoke rising from it ; in another part, with
the same view, a little extra finish has been given to the details of a bracket,
and the whole aided by a gradual increase or diminution of light and shade.
While considering the position of the principal points of interest, we
must observe that one object should never be placed over another, when
that other is of equal size or effect ; as this, by dividing the interest would
destroy the power of both, and render it difficult, even with the utmost
ON COMPOSITION.
83
attention to aerial perspective, to give a true position to the chief object.
This, however, does not refer to reflections of objects in water, which,
when skilfully used, greatly add to their altitude and beauty ; nor should
it prevent the artistic distribution of figures or other objects at the
base of a building or tree ; — these may likewise answer the same purpose.
Neither should two objects of the same size and interest be so placed as to
appear one on each side of some
middle object. One must be ren-
dered subservient to the other; other-
wise two points of view will be pro-
duced, dividing the interest, and de-
teriorating the effect. (Vide Fig. 4.)
When it is desired to render
some particular object important, it
is made to occupy more of the whole
space of the picture than other ob-
jects which form parts of it ; or, by
leaving the rest of the subject less
defined, it gains in interest by being
more finished. Thus the portrait-
painter, if he wishes to give a small
person the same importance as one of a larger size, makes the canvas
smaller, and causes the head to rise nearly to the top of it, while the feet
are placed near the bottom; or some accidental circumstance — such as a
step, a bank, or any higher ground — may be taken advantage of to elevate
the figure to a more commanding position. When the contrary effect is
wished, other objects are made more important ; and of course these results
are much assisted by a knowledge of the effects of chiaroscuro and the use
of colour. Importance is also given to any object by a repetition of the
form or colour, but always in a smaller or fainter degree. Tlius, in the
retreating columns of a building, the eye and mind are gradually impressed
with the idea of the largeness of the column in the immediate foreground.
Again, in an avenue of trees, it greatly increases the apparent altitude to
see others the same in size as those in the foreground reduced by distance,
G 2
84
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
to so small a space ; and the attention, when recalled to the principal
object near at hand, is proportionately augmented. Thus clouds that are
immediately overhead may have additional interest given to them by others
which may be said to echo their shape and colour ; and in some cases these
delicate forms of clouds are useful in repeating, and, as it were, carrying
on the shape of distant mountains or promontories. We may perceive by
these few notes, that very delicate repetitions impress the eye with as much
power as single forms when presented with greater firmness ; and by
varying our means of producing effect, we greatly enlarge our minds, and
avoid monotony and mannerism in our works.
The proportions of pictures may vary with the general forms of the
objects selected, but they should never be exactly square. The effect of
height in lofty objects, as a near view of a cathedral-tower or a mountain-
peak, is often aided by an upright form ; but its height should be evidently
more than its width. At other times a long shape may be desirable, as for
delineating the mere summit of a mountain-range or rocky scene. (See
example at the head of this section.)
There is yet another way in which we give, as it were, a glance at some
single beauty of nature, leaving the rest of the scene to be imagined.
Fragments so selected, and left unfinished or undefined at their boundaries,
are called vignettes. Originally they were nothing more than ornamental
arrangements of a few vine-leaves and flowers at the head of a title-page, or
at the end of a division of a book ; but, at the present time, any delineation
left in this indefinite state is so named ; and being no longer confined
to those particular parts of the page, its place is left to the discretion of
the author. The unassuming style of these compositions, and the great
latitude they allow in form, has caused them to be much employed in the
enrichment or illustration of books. When executed in wood, they can,
without adding materially to the expense, be printed at the same time
with the letterpress. In this manner — as will be shown in this and other
sections of the work — any interesting object (as a rustic bridge, or an
opening through trees showing a distant spire) may be given, and all the
intricacy and labour of drawing the numerous surrounding objects avoided.
Some of Bewick’s small vignettes are so pointed in character, and so full of
ON COMPOSITION.
85
expression, that they even surpass the more finished plates of his work.
The vignette style has been adopted for the accompanying little sketch, and
also in the woodcut at p. 33.
Eeferring to the above varieties,
cases, however, it is essential that the artist should in the first instance
decide upon the proportions he intends to adopt ; and then, aided by the
rules derived from experience, proceed to work out his intention.
The author must he pardoned if in this place he pauses for a moment
to dwell on the high and varied qualifications necessary to form an
accomplished artist. The mind, to enable it to direct the eye and guide the
hand, must be stored with a great diversity of information. In addition
to all that is peculiar to his own pursuits, the artist, to give his figures
their true form under every change of posture, must have some knowledge
of anatomy ; for drapery, however flowing and graceful it may appear, will
not always avail in concealing inaccurate drawing of the figure or limbs.
To represent rocks and mountains in their natural position, with their
proper characteristics (whether their masses are exposed to view in naked
majesty, or partially hidden beneath a wintry robe of snow, or the summer
mantle . of vegetation), the artist must understand something of their
it is evident that, although general
rules have been laid down for the
guidance of the student in choosing
the shape best adapted to the compo-
sition of landscape-scenes, much lati-
tude is allowed in this respect ; for
example, a space, the proportions of
which are three by two, embracing
within the oval contained in it all the
principal features, is indicated as the
form most suited for ordinary use in
landscape-painting ; but others (as the
upright or the long horizontal shapes)
may occasionally be employed, and
that too with great advantage. In all
VIGNETTE.
86
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
geological structure and formation. From the science of optics he must
learn to comprehend the laws affecting the light by which he works, which
illuminates his subject, and by which his pigments are so materially
affected. From a knowledge of chemistry he must acquire the power of
selecting those substances, both natural and artificial, best suited to his
purpose in the composition of the pigments requisite to produce his intended
effects. And finally, to profit by the experience and labours of those who
in former generations have trodden the path before him, he must seek the
record of their trials, their failures, and their triumphs.
Hence, to excel in the art of painting requires the attainment of many
collateral branches of knowledge, which demand the exercise of much
patient industry. This, however, is amply compensated by the power and
pleasure it bestows, the enviable capacity of faithfully imitating nature
in her loveliest forms, the exquisite delight of fully appreciating her
ever-varying beauties, — enjoyment far, very far, beyond the reach of the
uneducated mind. Alison, in his Essay on Taste, says, “ The beauty of any
scene in nature is seldom so striking to others as it is to a landscape-
painter.” Following his train of thought, we may add, that to the painter,
rendered familiar by his profession with the difficulties both of invention
and execution, the profusion with which nature often scatters her most
picturesque beauties appears little less than miraculous. Every minute
circumstance of form and perspective, of light and shade, passing unheeded
by the vulgar gaze, assumes in his eyes an importance commensurate with
the difficulty it involves. These ideas of difficulty, and the power of over-
coming it, being commingled in his mind, produce an emotion incomparably
more intense than any that can possibly be derived by the generality of
mankind from the same source.
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
87
SECTION II.
— a term introduced into our language as a translation of the Italian word
chiaroscuro (clear-obscure) — being now universally adopted by all artists,
amateurs, and writers, it is necessary to give the student, in as simple a
manner as possible, an explanation of its meaning. This term is very com-
prehensive ; for it not only includes the simple and natural light and shade
belonging to every object when illuminated by the sun, with the shadows
projected from it, but likewise the arrangement of the various masses of
lights and shadows, whether belonging to the different bodies represented
in the picture, or to others which, though not visible, are supposed by their
intervention to influence its general effect. It should be well understood
that objects with merely the light and shade appertaining to them, taken
singly, will not form pictures. In order to possess any pictorial effect, they
must be accompanied either by other forms or by accidental lights and
shades. Now, as in art a selection is made from nature, according to the
degree of taste and ability possessed by the artist, it is of the first import-
ance that he should early attain the power of examining natural scenes,
88
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
with a view of representing those lights and shades calculated to express the
sentiment he wishes to convey; and as, in his previous attempts in the
choice or arrangement of lines or forms, he has doubtless found the advan-
tage of adopting some well-digested system of study embracing the experi-
ence of ages, so, in the further prosecution of his labours, will he find that
a like system, tending to direct him in a judicious selection of the lights
and shades of nature will greatly facilitate the acquisition of a just know-
ledge of pictorial effect. The student is not to imagine that, in a treatise
intended to assist him in the use of colour, it is unnecessary to enter into .
the study of light and shade ; on the contrary — as we have stated in
Section I., “ On Composition” — the effort necessary to overcome these diffi-
culties in their relative order will greatly conduce to his ultimate success ;
for though the study of outline or form cannot he easily separated from
that of light and shade, — the former being scarcely intelligible to the eye
without the aid of the latter, — yet the attainment of these two divisions of
the art is essential before resorting to colour. In proof of which, we have
only to examine the exquisite productions of recent photographers ; in these
we see what perfect representations of nature, in every thing but colour, are
the result of tints and shades devoid of that great charm. It must, how-
ever, be confessed that, even in the most perfect of these philosophical
productions, a certain amount of pictorial effect is wanting, and a deficiency
is felt of that concentration of interest caused by a more artistic application
of the rules of chiaroscuro. The great use of photography to the artist is
to supply accurate copies of portions of nature, or faithful transcripts of
those effects which he has in the first instance studied from nature ; in this
way, it may be made to assist him by securing for his use the most correct
representations of form and light and shade, while it is indebted to him for
the more enlarged arrangement of lights and shadows known by the com-
prehensive appellation of chiaroscuro.
As an additional inducement to the student to defer the practice of
colour until he has mastered the difficulties of light and shade, it may be
remarked, that for many years Turner rarely used any positive colour in his
paintings, trusting entirely to neutral tints for his representation of the
glorious effects of nature. A still more convincing proof of the advantages
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
89
of such an order of procedure may be found in the fact, that, as the sun
declines, the colour of aU objects is obscured, and light and shade alone are
visible. Thus, the groundwork being laid, and the true principle of
chiaroscuro once thoroughly understood, colour may be employed with
great ease and rapidity.
Light, whether emitted from a luminous body or reflected with dimin-
ished force from the various opaque bodies around us, is the sole agent in
producing impressions on the mind through the organ of sight. Its effect
being almost instantaneous, the light portions of objects should, in art as in
nature, first attract the attention ; after these, perhaps, the extreme darks
or cast shadows ; then the large masses of half-lights and half-darks ; and,
when the eye finds leisure to pass from these, it will penetrate the parts in
shade : consequently the form and distribution of the masses of light are
of primary importance.
The lights and shadows of Nature are continually varying in position,
intensity, and opposition ; thus affording, by their endless play, that relief
to the eye the want of which would be felt in a monotonous tone. Again,
there is an evident tendency in nature towards one focus or spot of bright
light, and one portion of shadow or concentrated dark ; and when in art
these are in opposition, a greater and more briHiant effect is the result ; so
that, without the aid of colour, by a due arrangement of these alternations
and proportions ample breadth may be obtained without flatness or mono-
tony ; and the eye, thus attracted, will in one part be excited, in another
lulled to repose : the whole attention being rivetted on the result, a highly
pleasing pictorial effect will probably be produced. The breadth here
alluded to is extremely difficult to attain ; and Sir Joshua Reynolds
observes, that 4 ‘an inferior artist, being unwilling that any part of his
industry should be lost upon the spectator, takes as much pains to discover,
as the greater artist does to conceal, the marks of his subordinate assiduity.”
In the study of light and shade in its relation to landscape-painting, we
should first notice what kind of light illumines the whole scene, whether
it is general or particular ; because much of the character of the subject
depends on the truth with which this is expressed. When the sun is con-
cealed by clouds, there will be no very distinct lights and shadows on the
90
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
objects ; on the contrary, when the sun is either unclouded, or only now
and then obscured, these lights and shadows will be present in great variety.
This variety will be greater when the sun is on one side and near the
horizon, in the morning or evening, than when vertical at noon. The sun
being low, the shadows will be prolonged ; and, by passing from one object
to another, so connect them as to form pictorial effects.
"When the outline alone is to be studied, the first effort is to see it
distinct from every other quality ; that is, from light, shade, or colour.
With this intention, the student should select a simple form, such as a.
vase, and cut it out as a silhouette or plane, in cardboard or some other
substance ; by relieving this with another of a different colour or degree
of light, the eye embraces the whole form without difficulty. If a more
intricate composition, or a landscape is to be studied, the outline above
should be carefully made on white paper, that the size and arrangement of
the different parts may be distinctly seen. But when light and shade are
studied, the artist frequently shuts out the mere boundary line of the
objects, and, at the same time, translates the colours into their relative
value in light and shade : he ignores them as colour, but accepts them as
light and shade. Lastly, when colour is to be chiefly considered, allowing
it to engross his first thoughts, he chooses forms presenting the best oppor-
tunities for its display : but in so doing, he must still recollect that colour
is subservient to light; and landscape painters in particular, who, viewing
nature on a large scale, can use few artificial contrivances to modify their
effects, must endeavour to unite in one picture these three essential qualities
of a fine work of art. Before entering more fully into the details of this
subject, I shall quote, in support of this system of procedure, the following
passage from Sir Joshua Reynolds on general effect : “ There is nothing^
in our art which enforces such continual exertion and circumspection as an/
attention to the general effect of the whole. It requires much study and,
much practice ; it requires the painter’s entire mind ; the artist who flatters.'
his own indolence will continually find himself evading this active exertion]
and applying his thoughts to the ease and laziness of highly finishing thei
parts, producing at last what Cowley calls ‘ laborious effects of idleness.’ ” J
"With the view of simplifying the process whereby this general effect
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
91
may be obtained, without sacrificing the particular light and shade be-
longing to each object, it will be necessary for the student to examine
solid bodies of every shade and description ; in fact, to study nature under
the various phases presented by different lights and shades, remembering,
while thus employed, that he has to portray truthfully on a flat surface
these infinitely varied solids ; a difficulty only to be overcome by increasing
the effects produced by reflections, refractions, and atmospheric influences.
Many striking qualities and beauties of nature will doubtless escape him,
but others he will seize and amplify. His first great effort must be to
separate the light and shade produced by a brilliant sunshine from the
natural colour of each object within its influence ; for, as we have proved
in Chap. L Section III., the richest and deepest colours are as nothing com-
pared to the effect of the effulgence of this sunlight. To impress this fact
more firmly on the mind, let the student take the earliest opportunity of
examining those substances the colour of which approaches the nearest to
light, as white chalk-cliffs or hills covered with snow, from such a point o
view that they may be between him and the sun. He will then perceive
that in this situation, notwithstanding the quantity of reflected light still
remaining on them, they will appear almost black. Or, let him when in
a room look from the window upon a landscape under the most gloomy
sky, he will at once see that it appears light in comparison with the shade
of the room. By these experiments he will gain some sound data, and
become convinced of some important facts, on which to found his practice.
In addition to the above careful study of natural effects, the diligent
student will take every opportunity of examining and analysing the works
of those masters who have best succeeded in their choice or arrangement
of light and shade. To aid him in these researches, he will find Sir Joshua
Reynolds' practice of copying, on a small scale, merely the light and shade
of a picture, without regard to form or colour, and thus arriving at the
proportions that they bear to each other, well worthy his attention. This
practice is sanctioned by the most successful of our modern artists, and,
even when studying from nature, should immediately follow the attainment
of the composition or outline ; and although this system has not met with
the approbation of some writers on the theory of art, yet it must be evident
92
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
that, as even under the most fortunate circumstances subjects are not
found complete in all their various parts, there is an urgent necessity for
rules to guide the student in the choice and disposition of his light and
shade ; for, however perfect a landscape may be in the arrangement of the
lines or forms, still it may fail in the chiaroscuro or in colour, and thus
prove that there was ample room for further thought.
The reader must bear in mind that these remarks apply chiefly to
landscape-painting ; for in historical painting the artist has a much greater
scope for selection and skill in the arrangement of the materials composing
his picture. Subjects taken from history have but a small space of open
sky or air ; the incidents selected having most of them taken place within-
doors, are generally made to occupy nearly the whole of the canvas. More-
over, owing to the dark colours necessary for the costumes of the figures
introduced, there is but little reflected light in historical paintings com-
pared with that of landscape subjects. The placing of the figures and the
admission of light are also very much at the discretion of the painter.
Costumes and other accessories afford opportunities for the display of
taste ; but their colours, from their close proximity, offer less real power
in representing the difference between the degrees of light and shade, and
their transitions in chiaroscuro are made in a less decided manner. Again
in adding the local colour to objects, those of a dark colour may always
count as shadow, and those of a light colour as light. On the contrary,
in the broad expanse of nature there must necessarily exist a more brilliant
and extended degree of light, more reflections, and, in the deep shadows,
more intense effect.
Having thus given a concise view of the principles involved in chiar-
oscuro, it is now the author’s wish to explain and illustrate their prac-
tice. With this view, he has introduced some diagrams and examples of
subjects treated in the broad and general manner recommended. When
the student has made himself master of these ideas, he will doubtless have
but little difficulty in following them up with many others, which the
various scenes and circumstances around him will suggest. The first object
being to secure the just arrangement and proper quantities of light and
shade, half-lights, and shadows of various strengths, the student should
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
93
avail himself of such materials as he can handle with the greatest facility,
and confine his attempts to a few objects in the immediate foreground. If
paper of neutral tint be employed, either white chalk or Chinese white may
be used in addition to the black chalk. Should the brush be preferred,
sepia and white, with the addition of a little blue, will be found adequate
to the purpose ; and, by passing these materials one into the other, or one
over the other, a middle tint will be gained either with the brush or the
stump. By this mode of rubbing-in the effect within a small space, all the
fascinating qualities of touch or outline are passed by, and, no time being
wasted in aiming at delicate execution, the danger of losing the effect, as
well as the sentiment to be conveyed, is avoided. In practice, it will be
necessary .to study chiaroscuro in two parts : first, the simple and natural
light and shade appertaining to every opaque body when seen by a strong
light ; then, the general arrangement of all the lights and darks, whether
they are the result of variations in the accidental light and shade, or of
the stronger colours of objects represented in black and white. The former
will be readily understood by looking at a simple form lighted up by the
Fig. l.
sun or some strong concentrated light, and observing how clear and distinct
this separation is ; the parts not opposed to the light are in shade, but
94
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
if another body come between the object and the illuminating power, the
part deprived of light will then be in shadow. Shadows projected from
objects in the light are called cast shadows : an important difference, and
one which should be clearly impressed on the mind of the student. Shadows
are darker than shades ; for the latter receive reflected light, varying in
power and quality, while the former are not in a position to be thus
affected. But while definite in this quality, they vary in their outline,
and assume forms depending on those of the objects which intercept the
light and the form of the surface on which they are cast: they are, of
course, not visible in a surface already in shade. (Vide Fig. 1.)
When the eye has obtained the power of defining these two varieties
of shade or darkness, it will then be requisite to observe, that besides
these, there is in every solid object, or collection of solid objects, whether
forming an in-door or out-door view, a large portion which, being neither
light nor dark, is composed of middle tint, itself subject to be again divided
into half-lights and half-darks. If the light be very decided and general,
the darks will be small in quantity, but brilliant and effective ; on the
contrary, if the darks and darker half-tints predominate, the lights, as in
many of Bembrandt’s pictures, will be of great value.
In order to train the eye to observe these differences of tone, the
student should first practise drawing strokes of equal strength and distance
from each other, as in Figures 2 and 3. These, when regular, have the
effect of a transparent tint or shade ; and, whether made with dark or
light strokes, allow the eye to penetrate between them ; and thus imitate,
in some degree, the permeability of shade. Now, as the eye has the power
of penetrating shade or shadow, it follows that the darks representing
them should not by any means look solid or opaque, like the lights.
Fig. 4 is intended to show the effect of a graduated tint increasing and
diminishing, or a succession of even tints, of different degrees of intensity,
placed side by side. When bands of flat tints are placed in opposition to
others of different power, either lighter or darker, they appear darker or
lighter by contrast ; and this to such an extent, that in an instance where
the shadow of a projecting board was thrown of six different degrees of
strength, from six burners placed on a wall, the whole had the appearance
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO-
95
of a fluted column, and it was only by casting an additional shadow over
them all that the surface was proved to be flat. When beginning with
Figs. 2 and 3.
a faint tint, they increase gradually to an
extreme depth, and then decrease again,
great variety of tone is obtained, remind-
ing us of the increase and diminution of
sound.
By taking as a ground for these tints some middle tint of a neutral
tone, and merely indicating thereon the extremes of dark and light, and
graduating these a short distance, we can leave a great portion of the
middle tint of the paper untouched, when it will represent the half-lights
and half-darks so prevalent throughout nature. (Vide Fig. 5.) The student,
at the commencement of his course, will find the practice of these tints,
with their various modifications, of great importance, since by their aid,
before the hand has been much practised in drawing, a vigorous, skilful,
and rapid execution can be easily acquired ; whereas, should a careless,
slovenly execution be indulged in, its amendment will ever afterwards
be extremely difficult. If, on our first efforts in writing, the hand
requires an efficient training, how much must the value of such training
be enhanced when we make our first essays in the more difficult art of
drawing ! In short, in this, as in all other arts, it is highly essential that
the first advance should be made in the right direction ; for a moment’s
06
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
reflection will convince the student how irksome would be the task, when,
by a long and desultory observance of nature and art, his taste had become
fastidious (his ability to imitate remaining uncultivated), to retrace his
steps, and recommence with attempts at acquiring these elementary powers.
In art, the means producing the effect should not only be unobtrusive in
the finished work, but so easy in their application as to leave the mind
untrammeled when employed on the higher qualities of the picture ; and
Sir S. Eeynolds observes, that “ a degree of mechanical practice, odd as
it may seem, must precede theory. The reason is, that if we wait till we
are partly able to comprehend the theory of art, too much of life will be
passed to permit us to acquire facility and power; something, therefore,
must be done on trust, by mere imitation of given patterns, before the
theory of art can be felt. Thus we shall become acquainted with the
necessities of the art, and the very great want of theory, the sense of which
want can alone lead us to take pains to acquire it : for what better means
can we have of knowing to a certainty, and of imprinting strongly on our
mind, our own deficiencies, than unsuccessful attempts ! Thus theory will
be best understood by and in practice. If practice advances too far before
theory, her guide, she is likely to lose her way ; and if she keeps too far
behind, to be discouraged.”
In our study of light and shade, we must bear in mind that, although
no longer appear. This is shown in the shaded or light sides of the cube
and the graduated shades on the sphere in Figs. 6, 7. In viewing the
Figs. 8, 9, it will be evident that the eye, being naturally attracted by the
light, dwells on this before passing on to the shadow. This reality of light
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
in the first attempts to imi-
tate form outlines of dif-
ferent degrees of strength
are used, yet they are in
reality but the boundaries
of surfaces, as planes are of
solids ; so that when the
lights and shades are imi-
tated by tints, outline should
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
90
care those circumstances and effects best adapted to charm the eye. Once
understood, they will become firm data on which to found our system of
art. Great difficulty is experienced by some students in comprehending
the difference between the representations of objects with their own light
and shade alone, and that of the same objects combined with others and
treated in a pictorial manner. To these aspirants, the notice in the Aca-
demy Catalogue, that “ no mere transcripts of natural history, or portraits
without backgrounds, can he admitted,” is a complete enigma. They
should understand that, to constitute a picture, there must be a fortunate
combination or careful arrangement of lines or forms ; and a favourable
moment must be chosen for catching the light and shade most appropriate
to the subject. The importance of the latter must at once be evident from
the consideration, that the same subject may present itself under various
effects of lights and shadows, many of which would, if represented in a
picture, distract the attention from parts more worthy the spectator’s
notice ; and that it is only by devoting themselves to a careful study of
well-digested rules, and a constant reference to faithful delineations of
nature, that students can hope to build up a system which will enable them
to express the various sentiments they may wish to convey.
The principles and rules explained and illustrated in this section of the
work will relieve the student from that most uncertain condition — the want
of knowing how far he may depend upon nature, how far upon his own
invention. Let him, however, constantly bear in mind what Sir Joshua
Eeynolds says when speaking of Gainsborough, that “ he had a habit of
continually remarking to those who happened to be about him whatever
peculiarity of countenance, whatever accidental combination of figures, or
happy effects of light and shadow, occurred in prospects, in the sky, in
walking the streets, or in company. If, in his walks, he found a character
that he liked, and whose attendance was to be obtained, he ordered him to
his house ; and from the fields he brought into his painting- room stumps of
trees, weeds, and animals of various kinds, and designed them, not from
memory, but immediately from the objects and, following so laudable an
example, let it be the constant aim of the student to draw his resources
from the inexhaustible storehouse of nature.
100
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
The student in landscape has this great advantage over the historical
painter, that, whereas the latter is called upon to imagine the costumes
of his figures and to adjust the light and shade of his subject, the former,
without stopping to consider the exact proportions of light and shade, or
the precise quantity requisite to form a picture, may at once resort to
nature for his model, having by his previous study acquired a knowledge
of the right aspect under which to commence his work, leaving the
occupation of producing imaginary effects of light and shade until his
mind is well imbued with the truths of nature. In all the first sketches'
let her be faithfully copied, and let no attempt be made to reverse her
order by placing in light what appears in shadows. Proceeding thus, in
all simplicity, the student will find nothing to perplex him. On the
contrary, in natural scenes he will often observe the most beautiful com-
binations of light and shade that can possibly be desired.
By far the greater portion of most pictures is composed of tones which
may be described as neither very light nor very dark ; these two extremes
being reserved for comparatively small points of the subject. When, on the
broad expanse of these middle tints, either light or dark forms are intended
to be painted in relief, in order to give them prominency, they should be
convex. (Vide Fig. 12.) It often happens that the light gradually increases
to one point or focus of extreme brilliancy : in this case, light and dark
being always most brilliant when opposed to each other, the greatest dark
against some well-delineated object of interest with reflected light on it, such
as in the church and castle in Fig. 1 4. Here, by this disposition of the
Fig. 12.
may frequently be found in
close proximity to the most
brilliant light, thus creating
a most attractive point in
the picture. (Vide Fig. 13.)
This must not, however,
be followed too closely,
as occasionally it will be
quite sufficient to contrast
the greatest mass of light
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
101
interest as well as the contrast, a sufficient degree of opposition is pro-
duced ; and the shadow, by
being graduated towards
the centre of the subject,
is not separated. The light
of the cloud is repeated in
the water, hut not in such
a quantity as to interfere
with the mass in the sky.
When clouds are pass-
ing over the earth or sea Fis- 13*
in paraUel lines, their shadows on either surface, if unbroken by forms or
waves, will also be parallel, and produce great simplicity and breadth of
effect. The direction of
the Hnes will not, how-
ever, assist the perspec-
tive ; its force and truth
will depend entirely on
the management of tones
and hues called aerial
perspective.
Another way, almost
as simple, is to divide
the picture into two
parts diagonally, but broken in a slight degree by carrying a smaH poition
of the shadow into the light, and the reverse.
Again, if the subject be suitable in composition, such as a coast-scene,
it may be divided into a large mass of light, having a wedge-like form of
shadow projecting into it from either side. Such effect is indicated in
Figs. 14 and 18. It may be remarked, that the converging lines of the
wedge will greatly assist in directing attention to the point of interest ; and
it would be well to remember, that when the eye is directed to that spot it
should be supplied with some object of interest. This form can, of course, be
given in light ; and on the sea-shore the clouds often float over the sea in
Fig. 14.
102
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
such a way as to produce this effect. Many of our first marine painters have
adopted this treatment with great success.
When the intention is to concentrate the
greatest interest on one particular point,
the whole subject may consist of a gra-
duated mass of tints, the half-light being
sometimes relieved by the half-dark, and
the contrary. On the dark tint may be placed
another, gradually approaching a focus or
concentration of a deep tone ; here there
may be a single spot of the greatest depth
of colour, and in close proximity to this a
bright but small mass of white, such as a
figure or the base of a column. This ar-
rangement will give a great degree of in-
terest to that portion of the subject in which such object is placed. (Vide
Tig. 15.) It is to be remarked, however, that it must not be a perfectly
graduated tint, but rather a succession of tints having partially distinct
forms or edges ; these forms greatly contributing to the modelling of the
whole, and, even in such softened forms as clouds, presenting a good
effect. This disposition of the masses is also shown in the morning effect
at the head of the section ; in which example, as in the accompanying
figure, the deepest shadow is neither placed in the foreground, nor at the
corners of the picture, nor yet in the extreme distance, but in the middle
distance ; neither does the greatest light occur in the corners, though the
modern school, more frequently than the old masters, has those portions of
the subject light. The most approved p actice is, not to make those parts
of the subject which are out of the focus of the eye attractive either with
light or dark, but to assign them such a middle tint as may suffice to give
solidity, and to bring out the other parts of the picture.
Cast shadows, whether of individual objects in the picture, as in Fig. 16,
or of more extended objects, as clouds, out of the line of vision, are very
useful in indicating the shape of the surface on which they are thrown ;
often, while differing materially in appearance from the shape of the
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
103
object, defining more distinctly the undulations of the ground ; at other
times seeming
to hide unne-
cessary or ug-
ly forms, and
to support the
lines of the
composition
where the out-
lines of the
objects them-
selves are not
sufficient for
Fig. 16.
this purpose.
In the accompanying example (Fig. 16), the stems of the fir-trees in the
middle distance are both darker and lighter than some of those in the
foreground, showing that the greatest darks and the most brilliant lights
may take that position when influenced by accidental light and shade com-
bined with local colour. As, in speaking of composition, it was suggested
that lines receding from the foreground or the base of the picture into the
distance should be selected in preference to those in other directions, so it
is in general better to
avoid all such shadows
as cross the picture in
straight parallel lines,
or, indeed, to show
any lines too equally
relieved throughout
their whole extent : as
an instance of these
defects, and also of
the necessity for more
Fig 17 variety of light and
shadow, see Fig. 17 ; and, contrasting it with the same subject in Fig.
104
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
18, observe how, by
been obtained. The
lines of the fence, no
longer so equally and
strongly marked, are
rendered more pictur-
esque by being varied
and broken by sha-
dows alternating with
a few bright lights ;
while, to give variety
to the lines, such
forms of foliage have
Fig. 18.
a different treatment, a more concentrated effect has
been selected and placed in light as group well with the other portions
similarly situated. The trees in the extreme distance are not permitted to
be darker than those in the middle distance.
In order to facilitate the study of light and shade, the student should
make his first attempts either in the morning or in the evening, since at
these times nature is presented with greater breadth ; the sun being low,
shadows are more prolonged, and, by passing from one object to another,
serves to connect those which, from their situation, would otherwise be
separated. While aiming at this desirable quality, — breadth, — the student,
in classifying
the objects, will
frequently find
it an advantage
to confine him-
self to the re-
presentation of
every object at
its own dis-
tinct distance.
(Vide Fig. 19.)
In this study, the sky and distant mountain may be indicated by a tint of
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
105
blue ; the middle distance by a deep warm gray, composed of the sky and
foreground tints ; and the foreground by a rich warm colour. In this way,
the general effect being gained at the expense of the smaller and less
important lights and shades, great breadth is the result ; and, this secured,
slight modifications may without detriment be introduced both in the
colour and the interior forms of the masses. A discipline of this kind in
perspective and aerial effect, but for very different purposes, has lately been
enforced among the Chasseurs de Vincennes, and has now become general
in our own army : in order to educate the sight of all young riflemen, and
enable them to judge of the exact distance of objects, they are called
upon to note the variations which occur, not only in the size, but in the
colour of objects under every kind of light and shade.
In unclouded daylight, objects, whether in light or shade, wiU for the
most part be relieved from the sky by their greater strength of tone. The
sky being that portion of the picture whence all light proceeds, will gener-
ally be much lighter than the distance, or any other part not having the
highest lights ; dark stormy clouds, or bright objects in sunlight relieved
from a clear blue sky, are of course exceptions.
In treating of the most simple division of chiaroscuro, namely, the light
and shade belonging to each object, it was remarked that the greatest
depth of shade and most brilliant lights are seen in the nearest objects ;
but it does not follow that, in the larger masses of cast or accidental
shadows, the greatest depths should be placed either in the foreground, or,
as was formerly the custom, with the view of forcing the eye towards the
centre, in the corners of the picture ; the contrary more frequently occurs
in nature, where, owing to the clouds, or the shadows and local colours of
trees and woods, the greatest mass of dark is often situated in the middle
distance. In explanation of this, it must be- observed, that in the foreground
of the picture the eye penetrates so clearly into the details of every object,
that, to imitate this transparency, it cannot be made so dark as in the
middle distance, where these details are lost in a breadth of shade.
As a general rule, neither the light nor shade should be represented
crossing the whole of the picture in lines paraUel to the horizon, although
in twilights there may be much of this appearance in the lower clouds.
106
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
More variety is obtained by introducing it on one side, near an upper cor-
ner, and allowing it to
pass in unequal quan-
tities towards the op-
posite side, as shown
in Fig. 20, cottages
on the coast of South
Devon ; a sweet spot,
where Collins painted'
some of his most suc-
Fig. 20. cessful pictures. In
this subject the light
is introduced in a broad mass on the left, rather behind the objects in the
picture, thus casting them nearly all into shadow, the greatest depth of
which is, in this instance, increased by the dark local colour of the thatch,
bricks, &c. ; and these again coming in contact with strong light, the
interest of the picture is thrown into the distance, where some carefully
delineated boats and figures , at once increase both the light and the effect.
The foreground, however, must not be left totally void of interest, but
should in a moderated degree repeat the light of the sky ; a mode of
treatment particularly desirable when the objects are not of sufficient size
or interest to catch the eye, as in Fig. 22. In Fig. 21, the cottages are
made the objects of
the greatest interest,
which is increased by
figures, baskets, nets,
and boats, relieved by
their strong local co-
lour from the walls ;
the large mass of dark
clouds forming an ap-
propriate background
to the whole. It is 21*
important to observe, that when any object is placed in light, it is essential
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
107
to draw all the details with Care, in order to give it that degree of finish
which alone can cause the eye to rest upon it with satisfaction. Without
such care, the subject will appear bald and uncouth ; and, however truth-
fuUy certain parts may he delineated, the whole will have an unfinished and
defective appearance. Should the student find a difficulty in representing
any particular object in light, it will be better to put such object under
shadow, where it wiU attract less attention.
The aerial perspective of aU receding roads, paths, or streams, is greatly
assisted by shadows thrown across them. In Fig. 22, the ruts of the wheels
being irregularly expressed, sometimes marked, sometimes not, destroy the
formality of the lines ; in rivers, the banks may be shown more or less, the
eye being at one point
directed from them by
the reflections — occa-
sionally by reeds, bush-
es, &c. ; at other times,
to avoid formality, they
may be lost sight of
altogether.
The ripples also on
streams generally as-
sist in showing the per-
spective : they should
in some degree follow the form of the banks, and be marked only here
and there, as they reflect the light or the dark colours of the sky. When
the bright reflexes of the sun or sky are shown in these ripples, it will be
necessary to give the water, and all the other lights of the picture, greater
tone, since these must be of less power than the reflections either in water
or polished surfaces, such as glossy leaves after rain, &c. See Chapter I.
Section I. “ On the Prismatic Colours.”
Great variety may be given to studies of large objects near at hand
by the way in which the outline or shape of the whole is relieved : the
cottage in Fig. 23 is an example. The mass is here generally darker than
the sky, being brought out partly by shadow, and partly by the opposition
Fig. 22.
108
LAN DSCAPE-P AIN TING.
of different local colours ; a small gleam of sunshine on the door and figures
about it, though suf-
ficient to create in-
terest, is not enough
to compete with that
of the sky. When
masses of light are
separated from each
other, or when the
light ends too abrupt-
ly, the artist, by in-
troducing a white or
Flg* 23‘ light-coloured object,
such as a cloud or the sail of a boat, may both add to the quantity and
alter the shape of the mass of light, while he increases the interest and
prevents the light from becoming isolated. To explain this more fully,
the author takes the liberty of recurring to an old but very appropriate
anecdote. A certain artist had introduced into his picture a black and
white dog in the act of running across the road; a friend expressed the
highest approbation of the work, but added, that “for the life of him he
could not understand what the dog was doing there.” “0,” replied the
painter, “he is mere-
ly carrying the light
and shade through
the picture.”
Masses of dark,
either in full strength
or broken by some ob-
ject in half strength,
may with good effect
be projected into or
relieved against the
Pig. 24.
sky. Fig. 24 repre-
sents a ruin, with straight and severe lines, but varied in quantity ; the
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
109
whole mass being in this instance relieved from the bright light in the
simplest manner, giv-
ing at once quietness,
firmness, breadth, and
solidity to the picture.
The sun being behind
the ruin, his beams
appear to break the
straight edge of the
walls, and, spreading
over the surrounding
parts, give a half-light
to what would other-
wise be in shadow ; the cattle in the foreground receive the light in a
natural way, but being only of secondary interest, care is taken not to give
them too much importance.
When it is requisite to place an object in the centre of the picture, with
an equal amount of distance or background on each side, as in Fig. 25,
it will be advisable to vary the effect by placing the darkest mass con-
trasted with the largest and brightest light on that side to which the atten-
tion is to be directed. If, at the same time, additional interest be created
by the presence
of one or two
figures, while
the other part
is left in quiet
monotony, all
inclination of
the eye to wan-
der will be en-
tirely removed.
In the exam-
Fl&* 26- pie, the parallel
shapes of the house are likewise broken by cast shadows ; and the direction
110
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
taken by the shadow in the foreground assists in giving variety to the
composition. Again, in Fig. 26, two avenues are seen presenting similar
appearances and like difficulties : here, to obviate the unpicturesque effect
resulting from showing two parallel forms of equal interest, that vista along
which the road passes is blocked up with shadow and figures in shade ; and
the light being allowed to strike obliquely on the house, converts the whole
mass of the building into a form both more suitable and larger in quan-
tity, thus leading the eye up the extent of the valley, designedly made
the principal point of attraction.
In Figs. 27 and 28, we have that view of Trent which so often attracts
the notice of the artist In Fig. 27, the tower is relieved in dark local
colour, becoming gradually lighter towards the base ; the light, though
principally in the sky,
being connected with
that on the buildings,
which are intended in
this effect to form the
chief interest: the dark
tower, however, is not
suffered to remain iso-
lated, but is made to
harmonise, both in
form and light and
shade, with the rest
of the picture by means of the bridge and shadow on the river. The
light of the clouds is also reflected in the water, the latter being varied
and relieved by the strong colour of the foreground. In Fig. 28, on the
contrary, a momentary gleam of sunshine, piercing the dark stormy clouds,
illumines the tower, which is thus strongly relieved ; the cast shadow on
the building is more definite, and the contrast of light and shade is
repeated on the sails and boats. By this treatment, the chief interest
being concentrated on the tower, the view might with propriety be called
“ The Old Tower at Trent in the Tyrol ; ” whereas the former might as
appropriately be named “ The City of Trent.” It may be remarked, that
Fig. 27.
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
Ill
the name by which the artist intends his picture to he known often gives
a clue to the treat-
ment, not only of the
light and shade, but
of the whole compo-
sition.
When shadow is
thrown all over any
part or object in a
composition, it is
highly important that
the shape should be
agreeable without be- Flg‘ 28’
ing formal or peculiar ; when two or three objects are grouped together
under the same shadow, monotony may be avoided by some difference in
the local colours. Should objects in the picture present a shape unpleasing
or deficient in quantity, the light may be either carried on by other objects
or represented in the sky : a different effect may also be obtained by
choosing a different time of day. Objects of uncouth or difficult form may
be united by some general effect, so as to dispense with a portion of their
outline : in this way parallel lines may be discarded, and others obtained
unequal in size, and
varied by the arrange-
ment of the accidental
shadows. Any for-
mal manner of treat-
ing subjects, such as
relieving light against
dark, or dark against
light, should be used
with caution, and
varied by difference
Flg‘ 29, in the quantities and
tones, otherwise it might lead to a mannerism which, being contrary to
112
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the variety and simplicity of nature, is usually distinguished as a “ tricky’’
style of art.
In Fig. 29, great breadth is gained by placing light upon light and
dark upon dark, with a large portion of half- tint of a deep tone. Subjects
treated in this style present, if managed with skill, a very broad, rich, and
pleasing effect. When light passes into light until it arrives at a focus or
point of greatest intensity, a brilliant and natural effect, approximating to
that produced by light proceeding from the sun or other luminary, is the
result. This simple gradated mode of treatment is often used to obtain
breadth in colour as well as light ; thus warm colours, having been intro-
duced in the first instance, may be made to pass gradually into those of
a cooler tone. In these cases, a small portion of light in the one, and of
colour in the other, may be repeated on the side opposed to the largest
mass.
The author trusts that the above brief notice of chiaroscuro, or light and
shade, may enable the student to comprehend at least its leading prin-
ciples. These are of such vast importance to his ultimate success, that
time spent upon their acquisition will be well bestowed, and not only
greatly conduce to a rapid progress in the power of making pictures gene-
rally, but also materially lessen the difficulties of water-colour painting.
, ^
. .<1 .
THE HANDLING OF THE BRUSH.
Tint tint
graduated N° 1
graduated N° 2
trees
: mixture of tint
and drjf IrusJt.
LEIGHTON, BROTHERS
LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO.
97
and indefinite quality of shade render it necessary to make the lights opaque
and the shades transparent ; the former, as may he seen in the prominent
portion both of the bust and
curtain, being generally left
round or convex.
Before adverting to the
choice or arrangement of the
light and shade of a picture,
it must be noticed, that ob-
jects nearest the eye have
the most brilliant lights, the
darkest shades, and the deep-
est shadows, all of which di- Figs. $ and 9.
minish in power as they recede from the eye, and that in the distance
they pass into one uniform gray or neutral tint, just relieved perhaps by
the light of the sky. Distance has a similar effect in regard to colours,
and may be considered as a part of aerial perspective. Bor example, take
some black object, such as a hat or coat, and observe the difference both in
the local colour and shadow, when close at hand, at the distance of a hun-
dred yards, and at some third spot still farther removed. The eye soon
discriminates the degree of depth in the shadows and of brilliancy in the
lights ; and thus, by making a decided difference between the part of the
object in shade and the cast or projected shadow, great appearance of
sunlight and reflection is given. To this degradation of power, white
forms the only exception ; a fact observed by Leonardo da Yinci, and again
by Fresnoy, in his Art of Painting, thus :
“ White, when it shines with unstain’d lustre clear.
May "bear an object back, or bring it near :
Aided by black, it to the front aspires ;
That aid withdrawn, it distantly retires :
But black unmix’d, of darkest midnight hue,
Still calls each object nearer to the view.”
Perhaps, in his first attempts, the student will see no difference in tone
in the whole interior of the doorway (Fig. 10), or of the window (Fig. 11) ;
H
98
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
but by degrees be will perceive that much of the side of the doorway and
the mullions of the window are illuminated by reflected light ; and that
even in the remaining portions of
shade, part appears darker by be-
ing in opposition to the strong light
of the step, the sides of the door,
mullions, &c. ; that such parts are,
in fact, cast shadows. Besides these
observations, which apply to both
figures, many varieties of shade
are produced in the window by
reflections from the differently
coloured surfaces of the glass, cur-
tains, blinds, &c.
To most students in art there
appears a great step or division be-
tween the light and shade belonging
to each object and that disposition Flg- 10,
of light and shade more generally known as chiaroscuro ; this general
arrangement or selection being regarded as something depending on taste,
and impossible to be ac-
quired from another. But
this is evidently a mis-
taken idea ; for whatever
has been learned by care-
ful study from nature and
the works of the great
masters can be commu-
nicated.
Art can never surpass
nature ; the grandest ef-
fects ever produced in pic-
tures are but feeble in
comparison to the glorious reality. Let us, then, examine with the utmost
Fig. 11.
THE HANDLING OF THE BRUSH.
113
SECTION III.— THE HANDLING OF THE BRUSH, AND MODE OF WORKING.
.^^^.RFE C T freedom in all the motions of the
fingers, hand, and wrist, and dexterous
management of the brush, should be ac-
quired before the student attacks the dif-
ficulties of colour ; and the time spent in
practising with sepia or neutral tints, with
the view of gaining this facility, will be
well bestowed; for the brush is a much
more effective instrument than the pencil,
as with it we can represent at the same time form,
light, shade, and colour. Sir Joshua Eeynolds ob-
serves, “ That the brush is the instrument by which
the student must hope to obtain eminence. What,
therefore, I wish to impress upon you is, that, whenever an op-
portunity offers, you paint your studies instead of drawing them.
This will give you such a facility in using colours, that in time they wiU
arrange themselves under the brush even without the attention of the hand
that conducts it.” We must, therefore, before commencing the study of
colour, describe briefly the different exercises which are necessary to the
attainment of this desirable power.
Sepia, without any admixture, is generally chosen as the most suitable
pigment for brush-practice, as its light washes are extremely clear, and it
possesses great power. Its general colour is not disagreeable in any part of
the picture ; and should other tones be required, it will harmonize well with
cobalt and the other blues which are used in the sky ; it may also be resorted
to with equal advantage in the richer tints of the foreground. The paper
employed may be white or tinted ; the latter, as it allows the use of the
Chinese white for the lights, is generally preferred.
The paper should be raised on a desk, forming an angle of 30 degrees
i
114
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
with the table. The hand may bear lightly on the paper, or be moved about
freely from the elbow. The whole person should be held nearly upright, —
certainly more upright and distant from the surface than it generally is in
writing, the eye having to include a larger space. The brush should be
moderately filled with colour, and the touches made with boldness and de-
cision ; always, in the first place, securing the form on the outline of the
tint, and then completing the whole by the backward motion of the brush.
The examples given in Plate YI. indicate some of those exercises which
are the most useful. They begin with a flat tint, the power of producing*
which is indispensable. The brush should be filled with colour, and the
tint begun at the left-hand corner, and, after having passed along the
outside edge at the top, should proceed rather diagonally across the form;
at the same time care should be taken that the supply is kept up, as in
laying a flat tint an extra quantity is necessary to give the flatness.
A gradated tint (Ho. 1), beginning light and increasing in depth of
colour as it progresses, is next to be attempted. Here the tint commences
light, the brush being filled by degrees with the darker colour. In Ho. 2
this operation is repeated in an opposite direction. These exercises are ex-
tremely useful in accustoming the student to take up water or colour in the
requisite proportions. By referring to the example following, the bad effect
resulting from a brush being too full is seen in the excess of colour settling
as it dries round the edges of the tint. Plat and gradated tints are em-
ployed in all parts of a drawing. When decided forms are required, such
as the touches to indicate foliage or grass, tints which are made with less
colour in the brush are more useful. And lastly, the colour is some-
times used with nearly a dry brush, and even dragged over the surface of
the paper sideways, to give additional roughness or texture to broken ground
and rocks, as shown in the remaining examples in the plate.
By these preliminary exercises much is gained. The pupil becomes
acquainted with a few of the powers of the instruments he is principally to
depend upon for his effects ; his eye is trained to observe the minutest
gradation in tone or colour ; he will also soon perceive that colour has very
different appearances when put on full or dry, when floated, blotted, or
dragged. And the close observation that these exercises occasion will even-
MODE OF WORKING.
115
tually produce more refinement in his works than if he hastily dashed in
his colour at random. Indeed, the author considers the dexterous manage-
ment of the brush and colours so important, that at the risk of being tedious
to some, he has in this edition considerably added to this portion of his
work in the succeeding pages on “Mode of Working”
MODE OF WORKING.
In the preceding pages, the nature of colour , including the various
changes it undergoes, either by mingling or contrast, has been briefly
described ; and the student has been made acquainted with the qualities
of the pigments, and other materials employed in producing its effects :
some explanations have likewise been given of the terms used by artists, —
the manipulations of the brush, &c. We will now, however, proceed to
describe with more minuteness the usual way in which a water-colour
painting is commenced, and the different modes of working generally used,
leaving still further details regarding the execution of its various portions
to be discussed under their proper heads.
The paper stretched (as described in page 63) having become thoroughly
dry, a clear outline of the subject is to be made upon it with a moderately
hard pencil. This outline, although requiring to be carefully done, must
be effected, if possible, without having recourse to india-rubber, or even
to bread, as the former injures the surface of the paper, and the latter
tends to make it greasy. The student will not find this difficult if he has
previously acquired the requisite degree of certainty in drawing with the
pencil. No increase of power in the stroke indicating light and shade, no
sparkling dots marking minute touches of foliage, should appear in the
outline ; all these interfere more or less with the tints and forms, which
are to be produced entirely with the brush.
When the outline is complete, the drawing should be placed on a desk,
at the inclination already described, in order that the eye may more
easily embrace the whole subject, and that the washes of colour may flow
downwards. In this respect, the mode of commencing a water-colour
drawing differs greatly from that adopted with oil ; for while oil-paintings
are begun and finished on the easel in nearly an upright position, all large
116
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
water-colour drawings must be commenced in the manner described, although
they may be finished on the easel. It is customary to begin with a wash of
some warm but broken colour applied all over the surface ; without this the
paper appears opaque and cold — a defect remedied by this general tone,
which gives an appearance of sunlight to the whole subject. The tint or
wash, having been previously mixed up in a saucer, should be applied with
a large flat camel-hair brush, commencing at the upper part, the left-hand
corner, and passing gradually downwards. The tint is generally made with
a neutral orange compound of yellow ochre and brown madder ; but it may *
be advantageously varied by using for the more delicate aerial skies
cadmium and rose madder ; for the foreground, burnt sienna ; and for
water, raw sienna : but however composed, it must be delicate and scarcely
perceptible. The paper must now be suffered to dry thoroughly, and
afterwards be washed over with abundance of pure soft or distilled water,
either poured from a jug or applied by means of a large brush ; the water
as it runs off being received on a tray, soft cloth, or sponge. These opera-
tions may be repeated, with variations in the tints, as often as is deemed
requisite ; always taking care to allow the paper to dry, and to use the pure
water washing process between each application of colour. The result gives
an aerial tint of great purity, not to be obtained in any other way.
Perhaps some may say, “ Why not use a slightly warm-tinted paper at
once ?” But the student must recollect that this tint is varied, and by no
means flat or of one uniform colour ; and in that respect very different and
superior to a tinted paper. By this first process also the outline, although
rendered faint, is fixed on the paper ; hence it is necessary to have it at
once clear, decided, and delicate. In clouds, in extreme distances, or in
snowy mountains, it is even advisable to omit it altogether, trusting entirely
to the brush to produce the required forms. The tints produced by the
process we have described are flatter and more aerial than those resulting
from a single application of the coloured wash. A rough surface (such
as that described in the note on “ Paper,” Chap. II. Section III.) gives an
additional variety to these aerial tones, provided the colours are pure and
have not settled into the depressions. If it be considered desirable to increase
the granulated appearance, place a sheet of absorbent white paper over the
MODE OF WORKING.
117
surface immediately after the tint has been washed with water, pressing
equally upon it in all parts ; this will take more of the colour away from
the prominent portions of the paper than from the depressions, and thus
give an increase of granulation. The aerial tones are to be carried over the
entire distance, and, in fact, over nearly the whole of the drawing, with
the exception of the foreground : they facilitate the representation of air,
notwithstanding any other tints that may be placed over them.
If the effect intended to be produced be that of a warm sunset, the
drawing must be commenced near the horizon with a rich tint of yellow
ochre, cadmium, or Indian yellow, passing off into rose madder, vermilion,
or Indian red ; and when dry, the tones must be repeated in conjunction
with the process of washing. Sufficient strength having been obtained in
these tones, the brush is to be charged with a small portion of warm colour,
and, recommencing at a little distance from the sun, the wash is to be passed
over the others ; but as it recedes from the light, it is almost immediately to
be changed for one of cobalt blue, either pure or mixed with rose madder ;
and this process is to be repeated, each time taking up a purer blue. If
there be any clouds in the sky, they are to be left untouched by these
cooler washes. The shadowed parts of the clouds may next be added, and
allowed to pass into the blue on one side, so as to present no definite edge
there. This will give sufficient softness to their form ; while the edges on
the other sides, or that nearest the light, are to be rendered with a firm
touch. In sunset effects, the first tones may all be given with the drawing
in an inverted position, so that the light may flow into the dark tones, and
not the dark into the light. All these first washes and tints are to be
produced with a full brush, which makes them dry flatter and look richer
than they would do if applied with a small quantity of colour ; but as the
drawing advances towards completion, more freedom, both as to the quanti-
ties of pigment and the manner of using the brush, is permissible : the latter
may now be held so as to drag sideways over the surface, leaving scattered
lights. In laying on these first tints a certain degree of boldness is desirable,
so that the forms of clouds may be left with the well defined edges essential
to their character, and without which they would look like wool or steam at
a short distance from the spectator. When any of these first tints prove too
118
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
heavy, and cannot be sufficiently removed by repeated washings, it will be
necessary to use a sponge, or by pouring quantities of water on the drawing,
and applying a rather stiff brush, against the hair, to loosen the colour and
thus remove it. If during the process the drawing be long in drying, it
must not on that account be held to the fire, as drying it too quickly
would cause the colour to produce a hard edge. Drawings are worked
with the greatest freedom when the paper is slightly damp, but not so damp
as to allow one colour to run into another previously applied.
The student must devote great attention to laying on these first tints ;
and when he has secured a neat outline, accompanied with a good study of
light and shade, as described in Section II., — proving also the proportions
and situations of the different masses of colour by blotting them in small,
(vide plates 23 and 26) — he may then proceed with boldness and energy ;
always recollecting that the washes dry rather lighter and cooler than they
appear while wet, and also that they lose by contrast with the more powerful
colours of the foreground added afterwards. As a general rule, a tint should
not be retouched while wet ; although, while in progress, a full wash may
be increased either by taking up more of the same or a portion of some
other colour, thus deepening the tone or giving it variety ; or the tint may
be softened off, and a contrary effect obtained, by repeatedly discharging a
portion of the colour from the brush, and taking up water in its place.
Again, some part of the colour may be abstracted by the brush when in
a rather drier state : the spot will thus present a lighter tone when dry.
Should a tint appear either too warm or too cold in hue, or should some
colour predominate in too great a degree, the defect may be obviated by
washing it, and, while quite wet, adding a tint of an opposite character.
Thus clouds too purple in tone may be corrected by a wash of ivory black,
too vivid a green by a transparent gray. Much increase of power is often
attained by passing transparent washes over others more opaque ; by this
treatment variety is gained, and the whole effect heightened : at other times
it is advisable to stipple in pure colours in juxtaposition, provided they har-
monise. Great depth of colour may be obtained by hatching or dappling
colours over tints, and allowing the eye, as it were, to penetrate the mass.
Stippling is a mode of blending colours one with another by interlacing
MODE OF WORKING.
119
them, or placing small portions of pure pigments side by side, so that the
eye, passing rapidly from one to the other, unites them, and thus produces
the same or perhaps more powerful effect than a mixed tint. One colour
may thus be considered to be broken by a second, or even by more. This
process has been used from the earliest, oil-painters until now, when it
appears to be more particularly practised by the water-colour school.
Turner has given us examples of most successful stippling ; and by using
it has often gained a beautiful harmony and variety in his colouring. By
the employment of this mode of handling, a play of colour is given that is
extremely agreeable : it may be compared to the effect, but much more
refined, of shot-silk. After the monotony of a flat tint, the variety and
relief afforded by stippling on some additional colour is very great. Lines
and forms can be indicated with just so much distinctness as is necessary ;
and by adding to the intricacy without disturbing the breadth, the eye
penetrates these tints with the same pleasure that it searches into the
undulating distances in nature ; by it the general tone can be gradated to
the extremest depths, yet without approaching blackness ; for pure colour,
although dark, will always be there. Colour that is crude or wrong can
also be altered without the disagreeable and doubtful process of washing
out : thus, if a mountain side in shadow be too cold or blue, a little brown
madder may be stippled in, either in flakes, long or short, side by side, or
crossed in diamond forms. If thus, it is sometimes called hatching ; the
interstices are also often filled up with some other colour, or small dots are
filled in, as we see in fine line engravings. Should a slight green be wished,
the blue or purple hue may be further broken by stippling in a pure yellow.
In stippling, beware that the lines do not obtrude themselves too much :
they would then degenerate into mannerism. Some degree of firmness is
necessary ; but the lines or dots should all have a certain reference to the
general direction of the surface. An excellent example of the effect pro-
duced by skilful hatching or stippling, and thus varying the tone, may
be seen in a fine water-colour drawing by Turner, exhibited at the Art-
Treasures Exhibition, at Manchester, 1857, called “ Bamborough Castle.’
Sometimes a few well-placed strokes of nearly pure red are hatched over
a floated blot of cool gray, giving a fine warm glow to the lighted side of
120
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
some cloud ; at other times a ruin, evidently blotted in with nearly the
same tint as the sky, is made to relieve considerably warmer by the sky
being stippled down with nearly pure blue. It may be sufficient to explain
that hatching is a kind of stippling in lines crossed at acute angles, thus ;
and stippling is applied to the touching with short feather-like
strokes — long, short, or even in little dots ; or the two may be
combined, as we frequently see it in line-engravings, the dots
being added if the lines are too evident. As a general rule, to
preserve purity of colouring it is better to use the pigments %
nearly pure than to mix them on the palette beforehand : thus,
if the part is cold and wants warmth, it may be stippled with
cadmium and crimson lake or rose madder ; if it wants strength or blueness,
pure ultramarine is an excellent pigment, as it generally harmonises well
with the tones previously laid on, “ clearing it up,” as artists say. Should
these stipplings appear too evident, they may be easily reduced by rubbing
them with a little stale bread, as ultramarine comes off with great facility.
On Blotting-in and Geadating. — An appearance of dexterity and
ease is attractive in every art ; and in none more than in water-colour
painting. The labour with which the effect is attained is hidden ; and the
general effect, that which strikes the eye of every one, as a passing glance
at nature would, is represented. This is the broad and rapid rendering of
landscape truth that is still, and has been, so attractive in David Cox. It
is not to be attempted by the beginner ; but is most successfully practised
by those who have studied nature with the greatest care and attention.
This mode of representing nature is used with more success in water-
colours than in any other style ; and, as it has been observed by a clever
critic, “It deals with things in mass, marking the broad distinctions of
deep shade, half-tone, and light in all its gradations, and leaving out much
of the details of objects. This kind of work demands to be viewed at a
certain distance. It is true as far as it goes ; and it is based on the theory
that this mode of representation is the best suited to human senses and
human faculties: it abandons advisedly the attempt at microscopic ren-
dering of the infinite minutiae of a landscape, a figure, a group, or a face.
In sketches this mode is seen in its most recognisable and avowed form ;
MODE OF WORKING.
121
but it has been employed by whole schools, upon system, in all their works.
The picture is to be true as far as it goes ; but it does not profess to give
the whole truth. We should judge works of this class on their own prin-
ciple.” This broad way of using water-colours is called by some “ blotting-
in ; ” and as some quantity of colour is required at once, it is better to
make use of saucers in which to rub up from the cakes the different tones.
The three or four pans in the lid of the sketching-box will do ; but scarcely
so well, as the colour in them is liable to mix. We will, however, endeavour
to describe the more rapid alteration of tints principally used in sketching,
and in the first stage ,of works called “ blotting-in.” For an effect such
as Plate 8, “Start Point,” South Devon, he should in one saucer mix a
wash composed of cobalt, rose madder, and a little ochre, the cobalt
predominating; these being the three pigments he would pass over each
other in the first process. In a second saucer he mixes another tint of
light red, cobalt, and a little black ; in a third, indigo, brown madder,
and a little raw sienna. He should have at hand two or three brushes :
with one filled with the first tint he lays in the blue ether; with the second,
less full, and taken up before the first tint is dry, he puts in the shadowed
side of the clouds, and passes over the cliffs and also the sea, having waited
until the edge near the horizon and cliffs was dry. This process must be
used with some care, for if too dry the colours will not float or blend ; and
in order to give richness of colour, the wash must be full enough to allow
the particles to dispose themselves well on the paper. As this plate is
more fully described in the section on “Skies,” we will now turn to
Plate 7, where a mountainous effect is left in the first or shadowed-out
state, having all the general tints melted or blotted into each other. A
water-colour drawing thus commenced may be thought like a skilfully
gradated crayon drawing, but possess more transparency, and can be
worked upon with advantage when dry, as tints which harmonise tell with
great effect on such a rich ground. This ground also affords an excellent
body of colour from which to take out lights, as the tint, being firm, causes
them to relieve with great force, the colour also comes off more readily and
completely, and the lights appear brighter when either rubbed or ripped out
with the scraper. They may also be stopped out previously to putting on the
3 22
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
tint : for this purpose white of egg is used ; and when the general tints have
been broadly laid in, the lights are recovered by rubbing with bread or india-
rubber. In addition to the tints already described in the saucers 1, 2, and 3,
the student may have two or three others of a deeper and richer description ;
namely, cobalt, sepia, and brown madder, indigo and purple madder, Indian
yellow and Prussian blue, and Indian yellow and brown madder. With
these full tints he proceeds as before described, taking up just so much in his
brush as will allow of a certain amount of floating or blending with the pre-
ceding and succeeding quantity either of the same tint or of another tint
and fresh brush. The great art is to preserve the requisite gradation, not
allowing some of the tints to be either lighter or darker than they should
be. With all this care much still remains to be done, either by further
blottings-in or more delicate variations, by stippling, or dragging on colours
in a drier state, or pencilling with different shaped brushes and tones.
To Gradate a Tint from one Colour into another. — This practice
follows that on gradating tints with sepia alone ; and the pupil should be
able to do it well before he tries more intricate gradation : he should first
rub up a good tint of Vandyke brown in a saucer, enough to fill his brush
three or four times will be sufficient ; in a second saucer he will rub up
Prussian blue. He begins with the brush full of Vandyke brown ; and as
it becomes empty, he takes up more and more of the blue, discharging a
portion from his brush each time before he replenishes it, until, when he
finds it necessary to obtain purer blue, he dips his brush in water, and
drags it back against the edge of his glass, thus discharging the larger
quantity of the brown : he now charges his brush with blue ; and at last
washing it thoroughly, he presses the water out of it, and takes up pure
blue alone. The inclination to run downwards will always cause the colour
which is uppermost to predominate, unless care is taken to prevent it. To
gradate a tint with regularity requires great practice ; and it is better for
this kind of study to use cake-colours, rubbed up in saucers, that the uncer-
tainty of the taking up portions of pigments from the moist pans may be
avoided. It is also difficult to know how much of the colour passes off
when the brush is replenished with water ; nothing therefore but practice
and close observation can teach this art.
MODE OF WORKING.
123
Dragging. — One of the chief objections urged against water-colour
painting, is a deficiency of force and variety of texture and surface in the
foreground. In oil-painting, the body and solidity of the chief pigments,
with the mode of using them with white in the lights, enables the painter
to produce with ease the greatest variety of surface and texture ; he can also,
with the power he possesses, glaze down with transparent pigments this
surface, and by partially rubbing off this tone from the prominent portions
again vary the texture. To imitate this manipulation, the water-colour
painter uses his one or two sable brushes with all the dexterity and variety
of movements that he can invent : in some instances, owing to the nature of
his materials, he even has the advantage over the rival mode in floating on
pure washes ; for instance, whether they are very liquid, as for skies, or
more consistent, as for blotting-in. To compete with it in the foreground,
he has adopted a process called dragging, or the drag. The brush, mode-
rately charged with colour, is held at a very acute angle with the paper ;
some of the hairs are caught by the prominences of the rough paper, and
depositing the colour on them, produce a grain or granulation differing
from and superior to the regular tooth of either ticking, canvas, or paper.
If done with a dexterous and rapid hand, directed by a cultivated taste?
there is an appearance of ease and dash about it that is very captivating.
Of course colour can be dragged over the pure white paper ; but it is more
frequently employed in conjunction with tints laid with the full brush, as
in Plate 6 : a few broad washes or tints laid on, the brush, becoming drier,
may be charged with more pigments from the box, swept, dragged, or even
pushed about, but always, be it understood, with some decided intention.
A variety of smaller forms are thus made ; and the eye being allowed to
wander among and through them, the stiffness and formal mechanical look
is got rid of, and an agreeable freedom produced. Dark is in this case
dragged over light, one transparent pigment over another : but sometimes in
the immediate foreground, and in trees, light is required over dark ; and it
is in this instance that Chinese white appears to be of the greatest use in
water-colours. The white is mixed up with the pigments on an earthen
palette, and should look like rich thick cream ; the brush is charged with
it ; if for a sharp flat edge or rock, it may be made into a wedge-like form :
124
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the white is laid at this place at once, thus securing the smooth and solid
portion; the remainder is then dragged on more or less where necessary. It
should be remembered that pigments mixed with white always appear colder
and grayer than without ; but yet we must not diminish the quantity of
white, for that would make them look grayer still, but increase the quantity
of warm colour. All are agreed in one thing, — whether advocates for the
use of white with all pigments and in all parts of the picture, or whether
it should be restricted to the lights in the foreground, that white used thin
has a poor and miserable effect. It must be confessed that this white does
not bear glazing-down with transparent pigments so well as the white lead
in oil : it is apt to absorb the glaze, and also to be moved. There is yet
another use made of the process of dragging, which, when skilfully done
has a very pleasing effect : it is, instead of mixing two pigments together to
make a tint, to drag one on the paper first, and when dry pass the other
over it ; a mixture is thus made which, while preserving the purity of the
tone, gives texture ; it has more freedom and ease than stippling or hatching
with different colours, and for many purposes in landscapes has quite as
good an effect. Should these dragged tones prove too rough or crude, they
are easily softened by passing over them such a light and full tint as may be
required. By this mode we can imitate the varied, speckled appearance of
granite very accurately. If the general tint, for example, be dark in tone
and gray, and warmed with little spots of rich colour, we can first lay on a
full gradated wash of brown madder and indigo, taking off with a partially-
dried brush some lighter portions, which will leave only a general rounded
light, without any edge ; we may then drag a little brown or purple madder
over it, or, if spotted with moss, brown pink ; over this again we can take
the opaque gray, made with Chinese white and ochre ; and after all we may
still glaze down with some transparent and warmer colour. The rough
bark of trees will be found to give great employment to this process.
On the Use of Body Coloue in Watee-coloue Painting. — Our
readers will perceive that we consider the great and peculiar charm of
the English school of water-colour painting is the extraordinary beauty and
transparency of the air tints, the refinement and truthfulness of the aerial
perspective, and the wonderful brilliancy that our pigments have when the
MODE OF WORKING.
125
light of white paper is reflected and modified by passing through them. We
are acknowledged to have the best paper and pigments in the world ; and
our mode of using these materials has hitherto been so successful, that we
may be considered to have founded a style of painting no way inferior to that
of the Yan Eycks in oil or the Pre-Kaffaelite painters in fresco. Holding
this opinion, we have asserted one leading principle from the beginning to
the end of this work, namely, that the best way of using water-colours is to
preserve the transparency and purity of the pigments as much as possible ;
and we consider it of the first importance to bear in mind and try to pre-
serve the light thrown back by the paper to the eye, which ought to be as
little injured in its character of brightness as possible by the means taken
to represent the forms and colours of natural objects.
When we are, therefore, asked for additional information upon another
and, in our opinion, totally different mode of employing pigments mixed with
opaque white, we can only refer to the section on the use of Chinese white on
tinted papers for rapid sketching, or to the restricted employment of it in the
foreground by the process of dragging, scrambling, &c. Since the publi-
cation of the first edition of this work, the use of Chinese white or oxide of
zinc has greatly increased ; and the constant recurrence to this mode of
gaining effects by artists of established reputation, in fact, by nearly all the
first men of the school, has doubtless caused these demands. It will there-
fore be as well if we consider without prejudice the advantages and disad-
vantages of this alteration of style in the use of water-colours. We will
dismiss at once the term illegitimate , as sometimes applied to it, as no argu-
ment against it, — all pigments and vehicles or materials being available in
any mode that can assist by their properties in bringing out the greatest
beauty and force of the mode adopted ; but before we engraft any new and
totally different manner of working on the old, let us at any rate examine
very carefully whether we gain or lose in higher and more essential points ;
let us see if, while increasing our facility, our apparent power, we are not
decreasing other qualities that are more important. In language, Trench
says, we may have many innovations displacing old fashioned words, but we
may not gain in real force or beauty by the change. This we take to be
equally true in Art ; and we consider it the duty of a teacher, who from
126
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the exacting nature of his employment does not compete in any great degree
as an artist, to point out those modes open to objection. In the first place,
by the use of opaque white we gain facility, for a broad flat tint without it
is not very easily laid ; and the laying on delicate tints, and the repeated
washings that are necessary in order to secure a well gradated tint, is a very
tedious process, while the more vigorous and, when skilfully done, more
transparent mode of laying in a gradated tint at once is exceedingly difficult
to the unpractised hand. In the first process of repeated and flowing washes
we can alter and correct at leisure ; but in the blotting-in we must do it at
once. How by mixing Chinese white with our pigments, we can lay on
washes or tints, and also touch them again and again, backwards and
forwards, with hatching and stippling while drying, and thus secure a
flat and gradated surface ; we can even return to it again, and lay on
further washes or tints. The white also appears whiter than the best white
paper ; and if we use a slightly tinted paper, as some do, we seem to gain in
brilliancy and extend our scale of colouring. As this is an important point,
we ought to be quite secure that the white we are using does not alter itself,
or affect other pigments. We should make it our first duty (if we want our
high lights, our delicate grays, and flesh-tones, to preserve their purity, upon
which so much depends) to try whether the white we are thus spreading all
over the paper is liable to no change from the innumerable foul gases
often not only found but introduced in our houses. Look, for instance,
at the quantity of gas burnt in all our drawing and dining rooms and
libraries. Ask the librarian of the Athenaeum what effect it has upon the
bindings of books. See what a change it produces on the colour of papers
submitted to it. Are we always sure that the Chinese white, or oxide of
zinc, now so called, and made by all colourmen, is not affected by this
destructive agent? Does it not change tone when submitted to sulphu-
retted hydrogen, found so abundantly in many houses ? We believe, from
repeated trials, that oxide of zinc manufactured by some has still a small
portion of iron in it, and that the least trace of that will soon cause the
lights covered with it to go far lower in tone, and look far more huffy than
pure white paper. In this respect, then, we ought to be sure we shall gain
before we employ it on such occasions. Again, when we put on white we
MODE OF WORKING.
127
find it absorbs in a great degree the succeeding washes of transparent colour
that are passed over it. In fact, it always appears uppermost and opaque ;
not like white-lead in oil, which when dry is firm, and allows transpa-
rent glazing and washes to be passed over it without moving. The white in
water-colours, on the contrary, rides up and washes off, and always forces
the surface up to the eye, preventing the apparent permeability so important
in shadows and skies. For example, compare this delicate face stippled with
white added to the pigments, with that stippled with pure transparent pig-
ments : the latter looks like semi-transparent skin pencilled with delicate
veins, varied with the blush of the blood mounting up and showing through
it ; and the former has the appearance of a woman who uses a cosmetic, and
dusts her face all over with it, producing a mealy whiteness which will never
bear a close scrutiny. Look, again, at this gray-headed man with black
beard, worked without white, the high lights scratched, cut, or ripped out, the
secondary rubbed out and toned down again with transparent grays. What
firmness in the lights ! what transparency in the shadows ! Whereas one
worked with white all through must hitler be viewed from a distance to
have the effect of the air added to it, or else one is in danger, like the
Persian ambassador, of accusing the painter of plastering the beard with
whitening, or introducing gray hairs instead of light. Look well at
Turner’s water-colour drawings in the two styles, as they hang side by side
in the National Gallery. Compare “Moor Park,” done in the early trans-
parent manner, without opaque white, on white paper, with the “ Eivers of
France,” on gray paper, in which body colour is profusely used. Not only
is there a truer transparency in the old method, but actually more sunlight
and far more reflected light. Once more, let us examine the texture it
permits us to give our different distances and substances. Now in our
opinion, and also, we believe, in that of many others, the peculiar grain or
granulation of a rather coarse paper has always been considered as greatly
assisting in giving an appearance of atmosphere — the pure, transparent,
palpitating fluid floating over the whole earth ; air, as it often is even in
moist England, not mist or white fog, or too much vapour. We believe,
we say, that the varied prominences and depressions found in this kind of
white paper (when covered with transparent tints, and viewed in different
128
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
lights, which tints are again varied by being partially rubbed off the promi-
nences, or which have slightly settled into the depressions) produce a play
or alternation of light and shade that, combined with hatching and stippling,
gives a better representation of the filmy wavy air through which the eye
penetrates into space and darkness than the mealy dusty grain of Chinese
white even if it does not alter. Besides this, opaque white gives always an
appearance of white mist or fog, which one is constantly wishing would he
dispersed by a clear sun. It looks like an oil-painting that wants glazing,
or a fresco near at hand without that peculiar transparency the charm
of water-colours used in the old way. We leave it for others to determine
whether colour has greater beauty in the solid opaque condition, or when it
is sometimes opaque and sometimes semi-transparent : the larger portion oi
the natural landscape we consider is best represented by transparent or semi-
opaque pigments ; and upon a careful examination of the works of all the
best masters in the old water-colour school, including eighty of Turner’s, in
the Art-Treasures Exhibition, at Manchester, 1857, there were not more than
eight or ten in which body colour w?q used all the way through. The last
consideration is, the use of white in the foreground, laid on thick or in
sparkling touches, tinted with varied pigments, and dragged with separated
brush over the surface. In this use of it we most decidedly gain : we obtain
the fulness and sparkle of convex touches, — a texture varied from the broad
smooth stone tints laid on with the palette-knife ; the sharp, crisp, silvery
light of the birch ; the brilliant ripple ; or a clean cutting edge against a
decided cast shadow. With a brush thus charged, with what ease we can
put on or recover high lights of scattered sprays or blades of grass ; and
with the dusty drag, how may the warm opaque rays of the loaded sunbeam
be made to strike through the boughs, or the gravelly beach be varied with
cooler tones or grays ! Used in this solid form, and in the lights, where we
wish for opacity, white gives great force and decision ; we may even employ
it for a vapoury mist (when charged with moisture it conceals the forms
behind) : but let us, if we wish to keep to the real beauty and force of water-
colour painting, confine it to such uses.
In concluding these general observations, it is as well to remind the
student that there are qualities in some measure peculiar to all the different
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
129
modes of painting, of which he may avail himself in water colours ; thus,
from the pencil or chalk he may gain decision of touch, character, and
vigour ; from oil, strength and richness in the foreground : at the same
time retaining all those delicate air-tones so peculiarly beautiful in the
department of art forming the special subject of this work.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
The above general directions, indicating the mode of using water-colours by
the modern school of painters, were considered by the author sufficient to ex-
plain the system he thought the best, more minute explanations being attached
to some of the plates. But he has been reminded by some of his younger
pupils that other plates seem to require the directions, that are given by the
master in few words, made more intelligible by his example before them.
In this edition, therefore, he has added such explanations for studying
each plate ; and also the answers to some of the most important questions
that have been addressed to him. As these have generally been made by
intelligent pupils, anxious to learn, he must believe that the work was on
those points deficient. Should these additions appear unnecessary to those
who are more advanced in art, or who have the advantage of good instruction,
they are requested to pass them ; and having no necessity to engage in the
labour, they will study examples from nature that will be in their case
more suitable. We will begin with notes on the working of Plate 1.
Plate 1. — Among the numerous questions that are asked by pupils, per-
haps there is none more difficult to answer by words or writing, and yet more
easy to demonstrate by example, than how to lay the gradated tints in a clear
sunset-sky, and the order in which they should be executed. The explicit
directions so necessary to render this process clear to the beginner become ex-
ceedingly tedious to those who have overcome the difficulty ; as well might one
expect a lad, after a year’s study of Euclid, to go back and trot patiently over
the pons asinorum with a dull companion. Still, at the risk of being tedious
to some, the author will attempt to explain by a diagram the mode in which
the frontispiece of this work has been produced. It is intended to repre-
K
130
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
sent a clear sunset-sky, seen from an eminence, in a dry flat country, as the
Forest of Fontainebleau. To obtain that clearness and pure aerial effect, the
pupil must begin with more delicate pigments than yellow ochre and madder ;
rose madder and cadmium would be better, laid on very broadly, and when
dry washed off until the stain is scarcely perceptible. When this again is dry,
or merely damp, begin with cadmium represented in degree of strength by
stroke FT o. 1 in the diagram, commencing with a light tone on the land, and
gradually increasing the strength from a wash prepared in a saucer, for this
is better than taking the colour direct from the pigment ; as the brush passes*
from the vicinity of the sun, take up water and reduce the strength of the
colour until under the blue it becomes scarcely perceptible ; the tone
will then be in proportion
of the mark 1. If this is not
regularly gradated, or not suf-
ficiently powerful, it can be
repeated, or when quite dry
washed over with pure water,
and equalised by washing
some portions more, some
less. Then take pure water in
your brush, and introduce the
rose madder No. 2, increas-
ing the strength by degrees,
and diminishing in the same
way as the cadmium. Should
the tone appear too coloury,
a slight wash of Venetian red
may be necessary. The cobalt
blue, No. 3, is introduced in
the same way, only that it is increased in strength until it reaches the boundary
line. Should the cadmium appear too strong or positive near the sun, and not
quite bright enough, part may be taken off by wetting it and rubbing it with
the painting-rag. Over this light may be put a delicate wash of Indian yellow,
Naples yellow, or lemon yellow. Scarcely any of these sky-tones diluted,
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
131
with the exception of the blue, will be out of place over the landscape,
indeed, they all tend to harmonise the whole ; but as the whole of the fore-
ground and rocks are darker than the sky, some more powerful gray is
requisite. When, therefore, the sky is quite finished, but looking rather
stronger in tone than it should, put a full rich wash of indigo and brown
madder No. 5, varied in parts with yellow ochre or sepia, over the whole of
the rocks, foreground, and trees in the middle distance ; this will secure a
subdued and yet harmonious tone. Over this broad tint may be worked
others, varying from rich russets, made with madder, burnt sienna, and
yellow ochre, to greens composed of brown pink and indigo, or gamboge
and sepia. As the foliage of the juniper is of a gray, dusky hue, and in this
instance has little or no light directly on it, the pupil should mix up a tint
in a saucer of indigo, gamboge, and crimson lake, and try it on the margin
of the drawing previously ; he will then see if it is sufficiently strong, and
observe whether the sky-tones are powerful enough when opposed by the
forcible tones of the tree. Should the whole sky appear feeble, he may
float on more colour in the following way. Turning the drawing upside
down, he will begin (not touching the rocks, which have a firm dark colour
on them) on the first tints of yellow with pure water, and then take up if
necessary a little rose madder or Venetian red, keeping his brush full so
that the wash flows. When he has added enough of these tones, he dips his
brush in the water, and by dragging it back over the edge of his glass
a portion of the warm colour is left behind ; and now an equal quantity of
blue can be added, the brush being always kept full, and the whole sky
floated with a varied wash. If the sky when dry is not nicely gradated, the
colours being firmly fixed on the paper, the pupil can wash the whole over
with pure water, and then proceed to float on the different colours necessary
to complete it.
Plate 2. The Spectrum.— One of the most useful practices that a pupil
can have is to learn to gradate colours. To lay a flat tint, to gradate from
light into dark and from dark into light, have already been described in the
handling of the brush, the colour used being sepia alone. Now the student
of colour must learn to pass from one colour or shade to another without
difficulty or degradation ; for there exist in nature such continual changes
k 2
132
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
or gradations, that he must also learn to change not only the depth of his
tone, but the colour itself. The spectrum produced by the prism affords
us the most perfect example for this study, and we have generally the
opportunity of seeing it when we like ; we should therefore study it well,
accustoming our eye to the purest and most charming example of colouring.
To copy the spectrum, you must learn to float or blot one colour into
another, or pass from shades to others either lighter or darker. Observe,
to do this you must keep simple in your pigments or colours, not mixing a
tint and then blotting that in, but taking up one pure pigment after another*
and letting them float into each other ; then as the particles lie side by
side they have more transparency. Prepare by rubbing up carefully from
cake colours the following eight pigments in different saucers, — carmine,
orange orpiment or orange de Mars, cadmium, lemon yellow, emerald
green, ultramarine or cobalt, Prussian blue, and rose madder. The tints
you have rubbed up should be nearly the thickness of cream, having ready
a sheet of white paper well stretched on a frame or board : if on a frame,
you can damp it behind, and keep it damp ; if on a board, you must damp it
after the outline is made. You must mark off on the side of the outline the
space that each colour is supposed to occupy. You now begin with the full
strength of the carmine at the top ; and after passing along in horizontal
spreads, allow it to run a little down : then take up another brush filled
with orange orpiment, pass it through the little pool of carmine, and make a
tone of reddish orange — let it come a little further down the paper ; wash the
mixture out of the brush, refilling it with the pure orpiment, not weakened
with water, but the full strength — take care it goes over the whole of the
middle portion of the orange pure : then take up another brush with the cad-
mium ; and thus with all the colours. The great art consists in not allowing
the pigments to float too much into each other, but just sufficient to produce
the gradation ; a slight slope in the position of the drawing-board much assists.
As the violet is darker than rose madder, it must be passed over Prussian
blue or ultramarine previously laid on, or else mixed beforehand with ultra-
marine. It is good to endeavour to keep to the exact size marked out ; but
if it is intended to cut out the spectrum and paste it on black paper, you
can go beyond the boundary outline. If you find this blotting-in very diffi-
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
133
cult, you can copy the diagram, by using a succession of bands, thus : lay
on a light flat wash of the carmine a little past the whole width that the
red should occupy ; then when dry, another, but only four-fifths of the first ;
again others, lessening in width every wash. Afterwards the edges of each
of these washes must be melted or gradated into each other by careful
stippling with the pure colour, but of differing degrees of strength.
Plate 3. — Besides accustoming the student to judge of the relative
power of the primary and other colours when placed side by side, or when
in opposition, these diagrams are useful in giving clear and distinct ideas of
colours ; and the practice that he has in copying them is very useful. As
in music he at first strikes each note distinctly and firmly to acquire a
good masterly touch, so likewise should the earnest art-student take this
important practice. Moreover he thus gains neatness and decision, and a
thorough knowledge of what is meant when he says red, yellow, blue ; and
beyond this, he knows which are primary, which secondary and tertiary, and
how they are made. Should he afterwards like to become acquainted with
these colours when weakened with water into washes, he would do well to
make other and larger diagrams ; always, however, setting a watch on
himself that he does not mix pigments at random, and that he does not
gradually become muddy and indefinite. This practice will also facilitate
his endeavours to imitate the much more delicate and difficult tertiary tints
he finds in nature. The pigments used have been : for the primary, carmine,
chrome, and cobalt ; secondary, orange orpiment, Hooker’s green No. 1,
crimson lake, and French blue ; tertiary, citrine, brown pink, and Prussian
blue, russet, crimson lake, French blue, and orange orpiment or orange de
Mars, olive, crimson lake, French blue, and Hooker’s green. In the tertiary
tints, we must ever remember one primary must always be predominant ;
thus yellow governs in citrine, red in russet, and blue in olive.
Plate 4. Harmonious Arrangement of Twenty-five of the most
useful Pigments. — The earnest and industrious student will not be sur-
prised if asked to copy with fidelity the whole of this arrangement of pig-
ments. If he demands, for what purpose all this useless mechanical labour?
he should be told, that by copying it carefully he will acquire great dex-
terity in handling his brush ; so that he can begin and end any tint with
134
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
precision. He will also learn to gradate colours ; to leave off at the
boundary lines with firmness, yet without heaviness ; to do all this with the
greatest purity of tint ; and lastly, he will become thoroughly acquainted
with the appearance and qualities of each pigment, and with its colour in
diluted and intense degrees, as it stands alone and as it appears when
surrounded with others more or less differing in brilliancy and force : he
will see the whole group as they appear, surrounded with white and then
with gray. He will find a thorough acquaintance with the pigments
he uses exceedingly valuable in his after-progress. Few, even the most
practised, can judge of the tint or colour of any pigment while it is in
the powder, cake, or moist pan. Although in some of the lighter pigments
the relative power is indicated, all are obliged to try them with water on
paper ; so that he is only doing what hundreds of artists are every day.
This knowledge, once attained, will make the succeeding practices of mixing
tints very much easier. To copy it neatly, a rule, compasses, and ruling-pen
are used. Taking a well stretched piece of rather smooth paper, he strikes
a very delicate perpendicular line : on this he measures the length ; this he
divides in half by a point in the middle. He then rules another line at
right angles to the first, and measures the exact width. He now draws the
lines completing the diamond form, and rubs out with great care the first
upright and horizontal lines. He then divides each side into five ; and
when lines are drawn from these points intersecting the whole, he finds
he has twenty-five diamond forms to fill up. For this purpose he uses
cake-colours. He is also careful that he gets pure genuine pigments, each
being a good type of the colour of the pigment ; for they not only differ
prepared by different colourmen, but even from the same house at various
times. Thus yellow ochre is sometimes dull and heavy enough for Eoman
ochre ; sometimes tinged with citrine, so as to be like raw sienna. Cad-
mium sometimes too much resembles chrome ; it should be far more
luminous for its strength. Eed, again, may be too yellow, too much like
light red. Eose madder will appear pink, and very opaque and feeble. All
these differences he will study. Having rubbed up a small quantity of
each pigment of the same degree of consistency in saucers, he fills his
brush with lemon yellow No. 1. As he cannot get the full strength of the
■.u*'
V ,
I
!
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
135
concentration of this or any of the other examples at once, he must leave it
to dry, and proceed with Nos. 4, 5, 6, which do not touch the first ; then
he takes the next row but one, raising a row each time to avoid their run-
ning into each other. When he has obtained the full strength he observes
in the examples, he proceeds to finish them, by dappling on,
in some such manner as this, small strokes of pure intense
colour, until he brings the last touches to somewhat the
appearance of the pigment in cake ; but he must see that
he has colour even in the darkest part, and each must be
known and felt as very different from black. This dappling
has been explained in other places : it is an excellent mode
of obtaining an increase of power without opacity, the eye passing through
these little flakes or films of colour with great pleasure.
Plate 5! Chalk- drawing on Tinted Papers. — Described in the Section
on “ Paper,” p. 67.
Plate 6. On the Handling of the Brush. — Described at the begin-
ning of this Section.
Plates 7 and 8. On Aerial Grays and Skies. — Described in Chapter
IY. Section I.
Plate 9. Lake of Brientz is another sunset ; but few directions will
be necessary after those already given. Still, as there are lighter fleecy
clouds of a rich orange or golden tone, relieving from the blue, it may be as
wrell to add some description of the plate, and mode of working. The first
tints are nearly the same ; yellow ochre or cadmium with rose madder,
slight washes of gamboge near the sun, but not passing at all into the blue
or the distance. Venetian red and vermilion in very small quantities have
now to be introduced ; and the water is principally warmed with washes of
raw sienna. The student should be aware that the rich golden colour of the
clouds is not passed over the whole of the sky, and afterwards cooled by the
blue. The warm parts of the sky are left much cooler than they would be
when finished ; they are then touched on the side opposite to the sun, or
their shadowed side, with a warm gray, made with the blue that remains in
the brush and a little Venetian red or crimson lake. If this is done while
the blue is damp, the edge of the cloud melts away into the blue without any
136
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
perceptible form, and produces a very natural effect. The brush is now
washed well out, and the light side of the clouds is subdued with small
portions of pure warm colour, as cadmium, rose madder, &c. The purply
gray of the dark mountain is now put in with a full brush, and the tint
may be carried without reserve over the portions of the near mountain that
are in shadow, and over the principal part of the group of trees, shed, &c.,
in shadow. As a rule, however bright the sun may be, the shadowed side
of objects projected on it should in a great degree lose their local colour
and either become neutral, or have a little of the compensating colour in
addition. Thus, if the sunset is yellow, the trees should incline to purple ;
if orange, to blue ; if crimson, to a deep green. The tree, however, in the
foreground, may have more of the natural warm colour given to it; for
being near, and the foliage more separated, the warm light may be sent
through the leaves, and become yet warmer with the rich colour of the
autumnal green.
Those correspondents who have addressed the author on certain difficul-
ties, will find their questions answered in the following notes :
Question 1. — “When desired to sketch a view in which the only visible colours
are cool green, blue, and gray, how may they be used or arranged so as to form a
cheerful picture h ”
This question is, we think, answered in Chapter I. Section III., “ On the Har-
mony and Natural Contrast of Colour,” where the powerful effect of a predominating
light is described ; but as a further illustration of this subject, we may instance
many a cheerful Swiss mountain-scene, which, on a careful examination, will be
found to consist entirely of cool green or gray, with a blue sky overhead and snow-
clad mountains in the distance, with little or no vapour or mist to disguise or blend
the colours. Our first object on sitting down to such a scene should be to ascer-
tain whether the effect be really warm ; for cheerfulness may exist with a very
slight degree of warmth. Suppose a bright morning effect, the green trees and
gray rocks flooded with light — this will make them appear to lose some portion of
their positive colour, and, by clear cast shadows, may be made to look cheerful.
The great charm of such a landscape will be principally in the warm, delicate, aerial
effects in the different distances ; while fleecy clouds, breaking up the blue, partially
hiding the snowy summits of the mountains, and passing in and among the fir-clad
lower range, will give harmony to the whole. One or even two of the three colours
named will doubtless be subdued ; for to have all three equal in depth and intensity
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
137
would not be harmonious. But even in such a landscape as the one just described,
or a wild moorland scene in Scotland, consisting almost entirely of these cool
tones, a small portion of bright and cheerful colouring in the foreground, as a group
of figures, in warm and harmonious colours, suffices to give to the whole an impres-
sion of cheerfulness and even warmth. If it be possible to choose the time of day,
— to take, for instance, sunrise or sunset, and have warm rays of sunlight, of some
predominating colour, thrown across the whole picture, — it will at once be seen how
the cooled local tints may be converted into rich and glowing colours. Care, how-
ever, must be taken, in depicting landscapes of countries where the general tone of
colouring is cool, as in Norway, Switzerland, or Scotland, that we do not lose the
truthfulness of nature, and, by too great an avoidance of cool colours for those that
are doubtless more agreeable, become monotonous. Great beauty exists in cool
colours ; and certain kinds of neutral gray are so refreshing to the eye, that they
are chosen to set off and enhance all other tones.
Question 2. — “ In what position is it proper to introduce pure primaries ? also
white and black.”
For the consideration of this important question, as far as regards historical and
figure subjects, our correspondent is referred to the words of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Burnett, &c., as far better authorities ; we confine ourselves to its relation to land-
scapes. Pure primaries are very rare in landscapes (vide Chap. I. Sec. II.), being
chiefly reserved for the sky and figures. The great mass of blue in the sky, if
managed with care and delicacy, does not attract more than its proper share of
attention ; but a small quantity of a primary, or of two or more, harmoniously
arranged, produces a brilliant effect ; and their value is of course greatly enhanced
by the judicious introduction of black and white near the eye. Even in this case
we believe it to be the rule, that one of the two, or two of the three, should be
reduced in. importance, either by subduing it or them in intensity or quantity. It
is scarcely necessary to add, that black must be strictly confined to the immediate
foreground.
Question 3. — “ Is it proper in any case to bring a primary into immediate
contact with its complement 1”
When it is the desire of the artist to give the greatest possible effect to the
colours, they may very well be placed in juxtaposition ; we have then the additional
power of the complementary colour, not perhaps so distinguishable as it is in the
large diagrams at the end of the volume, but still giving more effect to the pri-
mitive colour. This also occurs, though in a less striking degree, when a tertiary
and complementary tint are placed in juxtaposition in the middle or extreme dis-
tance, as when a yellow-toned corn-field is contrasted with a purple distance, or a
newly-ploughed and red-toned field with green of various tones.
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Question 4. — “ What is the colour of shadow? is it gray, or a deepening of local
colour? or is it complementary? Is it influenced by the colour of the light by which
it is cast, and the time of day ?”
Colour is not distinguishable in darkness; it requires a diffused daylight to
bring it out in all its force. Shadow must, therefore, be represented by more
neutral tones than the natural colour of the object. A deepening of the local
colour is not sufficient to produce this neutrality or repose ; the mere deepening
or strengthening the colour of a sand-bank (p. 30) would not suffice to represent
the degree of neutrality as well as balance that there is in shadow. There is a sort
of reaction in the visual organ after strong excitement ; yet we must not yield to
this too much, and proceed to the other extreme by the immediate employment of *
the complementary tint without any regard to the natural or local colour ; neither
will it do to use a perfectly neutral gray or subdued black, such as is produced by
chalk or charcoal. No — it must have a compensatory effect, and yet contain a suf-
ficient amount of the natural colour to unite the two. To make the whole effect
depend on the mere complementary colour produced by the retina, would be to
ascribe too much power to this cause ; to ignore the effect entirely would be to lose
many additional charms. The colour of the shadowed part of an orange is a diffe-
rent tone to its cast shadow on gray paper ; the orange tone is not all lost, but its
degree depends on the brilliancy of the sunlight. The shadow of a rosy cheek is
often slightly greenish, owing to the complementary effect; but there are other
causes that influence this delicate study. These are, the gloss' or oily smoothness
of the skin ; the almost imperceptible down with which it is covered, but which
produces a grayish tint ; and the semi-transparency of the surface skin, showing the
light through, as well as the blue veins, whether in light or shade. This effect of
transparency or transmitted light has considerable power, as may be proved by
tearing an orange in half, and looking at the pulp in shadow and in light — the
deepest colour will still be deepened and grayed orange or crimson. The same
with the shadow between the petals of a rose, or between rosy fingers, which no
one would think of painting green. The colour of shadow must therefore be
influenced by the part in light and the colour it assumes ; and as the time of day
has a decided effect on the colour of light, this also must be considered. It has
been explained that the colour of shadow is affected by the local colour on which
it falls ; and to understand this better, suppose we examine a mass of gray rock
in sunshine, lying on a rich-coloured gravelly beach, we find the cast-shadow on
the warm beach much warmer than the simple shade, with the strong reflection of
the colour of the beach added to and overpowering the natural tone of the rock,
while the cast-shadow is not acted upon by a return of such colour, but has only
the side of the gray rock to reflect a small quantity of cool light on it ; it is also
placed in such a position that it reflects the cooler tints of the sky or clouds. The
shaded part and cast-shadow of a similar mass of rock, lying on another instead of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
139
the glowing beach, will be visibly cooler ; so that it will be evident that the colours
of shadows are hard to define, being influenced by a great variety of circumstances.
Let us carefully notice all the circumstances affecting the colour of the subject we
are drawing. If we can understand them, so much the better ; if not, nature must
still be copied as closely as possible. All we can say is, that the colours in shadow
are neutralised, and that if the colours of the object are strong and in sunlight, we
must indicate their compensating colours. Doubtless reflections are very service-
able in blending and harmonising strong colours.
Question 5. — “ In what part of any object of uniform colour is the colour
richest 1 nearest to the light or to the shade ? ”
If the object be uniform in shape as well as in colour, i. e. if it be a plane flat
surface, the tone will appear brightest when it comes in contrast with the darkest
and most complementary colour in the background ; but if it be a rounded surface,
the colour will appear deepest and richest as it merges into the tones of the shade :
and in this case, in or near the highest light it becomes powerless and nearly white ;
and in the shade, powerless as regards colour from alteration of tone and comple-
mentary effects.
Question 6. — “ What is the difference between shade and shadow V’
Artists consider that to be shade which is not in light, but shadow is projected
shade or cast-shadow. There is, however, much looseness in these terms, shade being
often used for the shadow of an object, as “ sitting in the shade of the beech-tree.”
Much of the feebleness of ideas of nature and art is derived from the obscurity of
the terms employed by careless writers. For instance, take our old friend iEsop,
who is made to say, “A dog passing over a brook, with a piece of meat in his
mouth, saw his shadow in the water,” meaning, saw his reflection ; his shadow cast
along the surface could not surely have troubled him.
Question 7. — “ How may one give the effect of a bright colour at a distance V7
As all coloured objects lose in power at a distance more than our pigments do
when placed on a canvas at the same distance from our eye, the effect must be
given by comparative power and lightness. However bright or strong the colour
you wish to represent may appear, it would not be advisable to use the same pig-
ments in the distance that you do in the foreground. If we take gamboge, Indian
yellow, or Vandyke brown, — colours or pigments all truly representing objects close
at hand, — merely adding water to these and rendering them weaker will not suffice ;
we must alter the colour, either by adding some other pigment to it, to render it
grayer and more aerial, or by substituting another pigment for it of the colour that
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the objectionable one would appear at that distance from the eye. These may still
be made to appear as bright as they could naturally be; and to do more would only
make the picture appear tricky and artificial.
Question 8. — “How may colours be arranged so as neither to look dingy nor
conspicuous as positive colours?”
First, As regards the colour of our pigments, to prevent their looking dingy.
Pay attention to the mode of working. Do not mix more at a time than is neces-
sary : at every additional mixture clearness is lost. Avoid using pigments that have
a tendency in an opposite direction to the tone you want. Be careful not to lay
wash over wash without meaning ; for the effect will certainly be muddy neutrality.
Turner is said to have produced some of his most pearly and aerial effects by laying
the three primitives in washes one over the other. In this practice much of the
purity of the tone would depend upon each of the pigments being true ; for if the
blue, for instance, had a tendency to yellow, or to reflect the yellow rays, and the
red the same, confusion or muddiness must necessarily arise. One colour or tint
may also cause another to look dingy, even when it is by itself pure and good :
thus two reds, rather differing in strength, but of the same quality as to tone, will
render each other dingy — they should be strikingly different as to strength to give
each other effect ; the same with greens. By want of care or thought in placing
colours, or in selecting those that are before us, we often render our landscape dull
and ineffective. To escape dinginess, lose the light of the paper as little as pos-
sible. Avoid the use of opaque colours one over the other. Beware of mixing
blue, yellow, and red pigments in the same wash, as these will not, like the blue,
yellow, and red rays of the prism, tend to produce white, but muddy gray. There
is a little philosophical toy of a wheel having these colours painted on it, which is
made to revolve with great rapidity. Some, thinking these colours are the same
as the coloured rays of light divided by the prism, have positively asserted that
it made white light, — an utter impossibility for coloured pigments to accomplish :
they only mix together in the eye, and produce gray. But enough has been said
on this subject in Chapter I. Section I.
To prevent any one colour from becoming conspicuous, it must be harmonised
into others by gradation, and not be too violently contrasted by complementaries
or inharmonious tints. A colour out of harmony may be quite as conspicuous, if
not more, than one contrasted with its complementary, only the effect will be dis-
agreeable instead of agreeable. A colour becomes conspicuous when it is decidedly
unnatural or out of place, as blue on trees, or pink on walls. So in the human
face, the same amount of colour which placed on a lip is scarcely noticed, if
removed to the nose becomes strikingly conspicuous. A single spot of colour in
a landscape may often appear too prominently unless repeated by other smaller and
more broken portions.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
141
Question 9. — “ How can I get more effect and variety of colour in my sketches,
such as one sees in those of artists ? ”
It appears, by a general review of your sketches, that you have been studying
too much from small lane and close scenes, and under trees ; such spots are very
tempting, as they are cool and retired. You have laboured with great care to
make pictures in circumstances that require much art and knowledge. The small,
niggling copying of different shades of greens, with varying reflecting surfaces, is
not what you want for the study of colour ; nor are all these close studies produc-
tive of breadth and variety. First, for effect, change the time of your studying :
instead of going out about nine or ten, and remaining out till five or six, go out
when the sun rises, or soon after ; see the delicate pearly mists and grays of the
morning, and the various colours that light up the clouds ; and note the shadows
as they retire from the rising sun. Keep in-doors all the middle of the day in
summer ; occupy yourself with something else, — read, write, or dine ; but be sure
to be out and at a favourable spot about three hours in the evening, when the
shadows are lengthening, and try to study and catch the glorious beauties of the
setting sun. These are the times for you to see the most variety. Avoid shutting
yourself up too much in broken weather ; go out with your note-book in showery
and stormy seasons ; look up at the sky more, and less on the grass. If you can
change your locality, go where you can see different distances and broken ground,
mountains and rocks, and mark the effect of the passing shadows on them ; then
drop the minute study of delicate spots of colour, and try for breadth of different
tints, — the purple tints of the heather-mountain in shadow against the rich yellow
beach or gravel of the foreground. Blot it in ; if not pure and clear, blot it in again
with different pigments : these studies will be the most useful and improving.
Question 10. — “Is any colour more particularly to be avoided than another ?”
Every colour, as well as thing, is good and useful in its right place ; it is only
the excess that is disagreeable or hurtful. Some sooner appear unnatural or stronger
than others. Buskin says, “purple is vicious another, Indian yellow ; another,
brown madder. A constant recurrence to any one favourite pigment or tint for
effect is apt to beget mannerism ; it then becomes worse than useless, it injures
instead of improving, like the oaths formerly so prevalent in conversation.
Question 11. — “Is it right to paint water as blue as the sky reflected in it?
Are reflections of objects in water ever as bright as the objects themselves ? Are
reflections the same size and form as the objects V*
The strength of every colour, as well as light, is greatly subdued by reflection ;
the blue of the sky, therefore, will be generally altered by a loss of power, as well as
by the additional colour of the water ; for we may look some way into water, and
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
it is rarely without some colour slightly differing from the object reflected. On the
extreme summit of the ripple this will not appear ; but when the light conies
through the shady side it is coloured, or when the water is shallow and the colour
of the bottom is reflected through it. If the reflection be at the same distance
from the spectator as the object, it will appear the same size ; but if the position
of the spectator be such that all the object can be seen and only a portion of the
reflection, as when the spectator is placed high above the reflecting surface, like
the view from the E.ighi where the base of the mountain is all hidden, of course
the object will appear only partially reflected. But if you are painting a portrait
of a friend and his reflection in a looking-glass, the life and the reflection being
the same distance from you, then the size should he the same : if the reflection is
furthest off, it must be diminished in the regular proportion ; but the colours in
the reflection will be much feebler, and perhaps influenced by the local tone of
the mirror or reflecting power, whatever that may be. There is one simple fact
about reflections that the young artist should always bear in mind. When a per-
pendicular object is reflected in a glass hanging at an angle from the wall, say an
angle of 10°, then the reflection will be at an angle of 20°, for the angle is always
doubled ; the surface of the glass is 10°, but the reflection is 20°. This will make
an apparent incongruity between the two forms : but any one who looks with care
into these things will observe the truth ; and one great truth like this is much
better than a great many little truths of minor importance.
Question 12. — “Why do artists so often introduce into their pictures the red
cloak and blue kerchief so prevalent in many of the rustic districts of England ? ”
Every one has heard of the good effect of a little bit of red contrasted with a
large quantity of green. It is, in fact, so well known, and so much used, that it is
not advisable to employ it too often. Blue, as a piece of positive colour, gives
force and life to a picture, and serves to repeat the blue of the sky or distance.
Of the two, red would appear conspicuous the longest in the distance ; the blue
contrasted with the warmer tones of the foreground might be made the most
striking.
Question 13. — “How shall I avoid the crudeness and want of harmony which
characterise my most careful studies from nature V ’
Do not be too anxious to soften or tone down these asperities, they are faults on
the right side ; these studies are promising, much more so than the delicate, softened
copies that formerly gave so much pleasure to your friends. You are now trying
for exactness and truth in colouring, for purity and variety of tints. As you copy
each tint in turn from nature, you will no doubt make each too positive, and they
will have a harsh, overbearing character. Persevere, one will correct another ; but
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
143
if you would wish to see how soon pure mixtures of well-arranged tints are
blended and harmonised, take a large sable brush and water, and beginning with
the sky, wash it all over, taking out the hard edges and spots. Let the wash, if
clear and pure, float over the distance, and thus it will become more united and
aerial. Continue the washing, so that the crude greens are subdued ; float on a
little pure gray, and in the middle distance a good breadth of warm gray, of brown
madder, and indigo. Stop there at the broken line of the foreground, and when it
has dried you will find your sketch is put together ; in fact, it is all in harmony,
and yet powerful.
Question 14. — “How is it that, in trying to get true and vigorous colour in
my studies from nature, I always lose not only the light and shade of each object,
hut the general effect of the whole 1 ”
You do not yet seem to comprehend that the colour of any object is subordinate
to light, — by light I mean clear sunlight. If you could thoroughly understand
and see this great truth, you would ever afterwards give to each its just value in
your pictures. To convince yourself, take a piece of black cloth or silk that is
not glossy, and a white sheet of cardboard glued on to a millboard so as to make
it perfectly opaque ; put the black cloth in the sun, stand the cardboard upright on
it, so as to obtain a good effect of it in shade, and a determined cast-shadow on the
cloth. How copy the whole, with conscientious adherence to the truth, as you
see it. The cloth in the sun will be nearly white, or a very slight gray, the board
very much darker, but the shadow on the cloth the extreme depth. Always keep
in mind that you have but a limited power to represent light. Our pigments are
as bright as the objects themselves ; but when we represent light with white, we
fall infinitely short of the real effect. Again, if we paint black cloth black in sun-
light, what do we reserve of power for it in common daylight or in cast-shadow ?
Think of this, and paint your local colours as you actually see them, and not as
you know them to be in other situations. Use them as Polonius intended to use
the players, as they deserve ; but keep them in their proper place. Your next
study should be a few good red bricks, in different positions and lights. If you
can group them amongst some burdock or rhubarb leaves, you will have an oppor-
tunity of seeing and studying sunlight on red and green surfaces without any
gloss, and with a certain degree of reflective power ; you will also see the effect
of reflection in modifying and harmonising colour. When you afterwards paint the
trees and rocks you find in nature, you will certainly be more truthful for these
studies. There is yet another reason why your foreground studies of foliage
appear so heavy and positive in colour : light of a cool retiring character is not
so attractive to the eye as rich warm colour in shade ; the colour is so pleasing,
that the eye loves to rest upon it in preference to the cool gray light. Eor
example, the leaves of a vine on which I now look have great reflective power,
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
144
and though in light, should be painted, not green, but a gray blue ; while those in
shadow, through which the sun partially shines, are a beautiful green, and, owing
to their colour, attract the eye more than those in light : but as colour is in most
instances turned into light and shade by the photograph, we must examine this
subject copied in this way, and we shall then see the lights will be exceedingly
prominent. We have in reality to go through a very careful course in our first
studies from nature. NTo artist, not even Turner, could reckon the just value of
every light, shade, or colour he saw in nature at his first attempts. It is so utterly
impossible to imitate light, that we have the greatest difficulty in adjusting our
scale to our diminished power. If we are too sensitive to any loss of light, we are
in danger of becoming feeble ; if we are too eager to gain force, we are led
unawares into blackness.
Question 15. — “In the last study of trees you made before me, I observed you
did not use such a simple mode as you have hitherto recommended. May I ask
why?”
I will tell you with pleasure ; for you are well aware I have no secrets : indeed
there ought to be no reserve in such matters between master and pupil, excepting
such as is positively for the benefit of the learner. Every one, on first attempting
the study of any art, must try and acquire the most simple method, learn to do
things in a firm and decided manner, and must therefore adopt those processes not
perhaps the most effective, but where there is the least chance of failure. If the
difficulties are all presented to pupils at once, and they fail at first to overcome
them, as most likely they will, then they are so discouraged that they never have
the resolution to begin in the slow careful way again. I advised you to lay a broad
flat tint of green on the tree, attending only to the outline edge, and then another
of a different shade for the shadow. In the first attempts you had quite enough
to do to keep the general form, the purity, flatness, and same strength of the tint.
In the shadow, you had the additional difficulty of leaving the lights convex, in
fact, of keeping the lights always in your eye at the expense of the shadows. Until
you had acquired this power, it would have been of no use to tell you you might
blot-in your colour more freely ; that in the highest lights you might use the colour
a little cooler ; in the shadows you might take up more indefinite greens with much
more power, melting or running one colour into another ; or that the whole tone of
the lower part of the trees might be cooler and deeper, — that here you might take
a little more yellow, more red, or a different blue. All this, told you at the begin-
ning, would only have confused you. Having so many things to attend to, it would
only have ended in a sad muddy shapeless blot. But now you can manage your
brush, and lay tints flat or gradated. Knowing well the nature of the different
pigments you use, I wish you to do it as I did ; and if you do not succeed the first
time, try again until you do.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
145
Question 1 6. — “ How is it that my studies, made with far more attention and
labour than formerly, with far greater knowledge of nature and the art of using
my materials, do not either please myself or my friends as much as my earlier
sketches ? ”
Place your sketches made ten years ago side by side with those you have just
completed ; compare them well ; look at them if you can with the eye of a stranger.
Do you not perceive the amazing difference 7 There is no life, no reality, no soul
in the last, laboured though they he ; they are veritable landscape Frankensteins ;
all the higher qualities are wanting, hut all the lower and earthly are brought
prominently forward. How, turn to the first. Here they are slovenly in drawing, not
always correct in light and shade, and very often false in colour. But how widely
different ! You were young in life and art then, full of feeling, quick to seize ideas,
rapid in execution, not overburdened with knowledge and rules ; you walked with
nature like a child, and represented her in as simple a manner, nevertheless, don’t
be discouraged. Let us examine what has led to this great change in ten years.
In that time photography and the Pre-Raphaelite school have sprung up ; and from
the profusion of minute studies of nature thus always before the eye, every one has
been led to demand more careful and truthful work in artists’ drawings. This the
Pre-Raphaelite school has endeavoured to meet by increased labour. The result
is evident all over the walls of the Exhibition. But this is not all ; photography
tends to discourage, as well as to advance Art. When two young amateurs go
out to study nature together, one of whom uses the machine, the other his brush
and colours, we can easily see that he who can produce five or six finished and
truthful studies will . at the end of the day think, and without fail say, that his
friend, who has not yet completed his first study, is decidedly slow. We, how-
ever, think that a careful study, with all the beauty of colour, light and shade,
and a selection of form, is far more agreeable than that in which a multiplicity
of detail alone is given. Hear on this subject the opinion of a clever writer
in the Quarterly , Ho. 202, which we here quote : “ It is obvious that, however
successful photography may be in the closest imitation of light and shadow, it
fails, and must fail, in the rendering of true chiaroscuro, or the true imitation of
light and dark. And even if the world we inhabit, instead of being spread out
with every variety of the palette, were constituted but of two colours, — black and
white, and all their intermediate grades, — if every figure were seen in monochrome,
like those that visited the perturbed vision of the Berlin Hicolai, — photography
could still not copy them correctly. Hature, we must remember, is not made up
only of actual lights and shadows : besides these more elementary masses, she
possesses innumerable reflected lights and half-tones, which play around every
object, rounding the hardest edges, and illuminating the blackest breadths, and
making them sunshine in a shady place, which it is the delight of the practised
painter to render. But of all these photography gives comparatively no account.
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
The beau-ideal of a Turner and the delight of a Rubens are caviar to her. Her
strong shadows swallow up all timid lights within them, as her blazing lights obli-
terate all intrusive half-tones across them ; and thus strong contrasts are produced,
which, so far from being true to nature, it seems one of nature’s most beautiful
provisions to prevent.” Again, speaking of the inferiority of the face to the dress
of figures, the writer remarks ; “ The first principle in Art, is, that the most impor-
tant part of a picture should be best done. Here, on the contrary, while the
dress has been rendered worthy of a fashion-book, the face has remained, if not
so unfinished as before, yet more unfinished in proportion to the rest.” There are
also far higher qualities required to make fine works of Art than the most successful
photographer can supply ; and even could the photographer render the colours as
well as the light and shade of nature, could he at all compete in the production of
real works of Art, which must be the result of the mind, and not of the skilful
manipulator alone ? But these ideas are much more powerfully expressed by a
great student and lover of nature, who uses not only photography and his pencil,
but his pen, to paint the beauties that he sees. In Two Years Ago , Mr. Kingsley
makes an artist say, in answer to a friend :
“Hot paint what is there? And you are the' man who talks of Art being
highest when it copies nature.”
“Exactly. And therefore you must paint, not what is there, but what you see
there. They forget that human beings are men with two eyes, and not daguerreo-
type lenses with one eye ; and so are contriving and striving to introduce into their
pictures the very defect of the daguerreotype which the stereoscope is required to
correct.”
“ I comprehend. They forget that the double vision of our two eyes gives a
softness and indistinctness and roundness to every outline.”
“ Exactly so ; and therefore, while for distant landscapes, motionless, and
already softened by atmosphere, the daguerreotype is invaluable (I shall do nothing
else this summer but work at it) ; yet for taking portraits, in any true sense, it
will be always useless, not only for the reason I just gave, but for another one
which the Pre-Raphaelites have forgotten.”
“Because all the features cannot be on focus at once? ”
“ 0, no ; I am not speaking of that. Art, for aught I know, may overcome
that ; for it is a mere defect in the instrument. What I mean is this : it tries to
represent as still what never yet was still for the thousandth part of a second —
that is, a human face ; and as seen by a spectator who is perfectly still, which no
man ever yet was. My dear fellow, don’t you see that what some painters call
idealising a portrait is, if it be wisely done, really painting for you the face which
you see, and know, and love ? — her ever-shifting features, with expression varying
more rapidly than the gleam of the diamond on her finger, — features which you, in
your turn, are looking at with ever-shifting eyes ; while, perhaps, if it is a face
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
147
which you love and have lingered over, a dozen other expressions equally belonging
to it are lingering in your memory, and blending themselves with the actual
picture on your retina : till every little angle is somewhat rounded, every little
wrinkle somewhat softened, every little shade somewhat blended with the surround-
ing light, so that the sum total of what you see, and are intended by Heaven to see,
is something far softer, lovelier, — younger, perhaps, thank Heaven ! — than it would
look if your head was screwed down in a vice, to look with one eye at her head
screwed down in a vice also ? — though even that, thanks to the muscles of the eye,
would not produce the required ugliness ; and the only possible method of fulfilling
the Pre-Raphaelite idea would be, to set a petrified Cyclops to paint his petrified
brother.”
Having thus pointed out the too great reliance on photography, — for it is not
only now made to furnish studies to refresh the artist’s eye or aid his memory, but
it is supposed to take the form and arrangement of the subject better from nature,
while he humbly tints in the colour, — we will observe what effect this straining to
compete in these details with photography has produced on your studies. That
we are almost all naturally idle, is quite true ; to think strongly and deeply fatigues
us, especially as we advance in life — we search for somebody or something to
relieve us : now this photography appears to do but does not. You must therefore
endeavour to return to the feeling and respect for the higher qualities in nature
that you had when you first studied.
Question 17. “How is it that I, who see so much of the finest Nature and Art,
who have read so much on Art, and have had lessons from so many excellent
masters, do not improve at all ; my sketches being no more like pictures than
when I first began 'I ”
A question of so much importance requires great consideration ; but as we
have agreed to allow truth to be our guide, we must consider, in the first place,
whether you are not mistaken when you speak of studying Nature and Art. You
travel over too much fine scenery to study nature carefully, and with companions
who either do not sketch, or who sketch as hastily as yourself : this will not lead
to improvement. You see too many pictures to examine Art with profit, the faults
and not the beauties of which attract your first attention ; this, with the help of
clever critics, can be done with the greatest facility, and makes you dissatisfied
with them as well as yourself. You also skim too many works on Art ; have too
much apparent knowledge of principles and rules which you cannot apply. All
this makes you doubt the genuine power of Art. One guide, in whom you have
confidence, with one or too good works at a time, would be far better. It is a
common idea that the whole province of Art is to deceive ; on the contrary, Art
has to represent that which words cannot do so well. What words can fully
express or convey a distinct conception of colour, or even of the simplest form ?
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Endeavour, therefore, to gain more simple and noble ideas of our branch of Art,
which is to give clear and truthful representations of nature as it appears to those
who have the power of seeing it at a glance, at one moment of time, under the
most favourable influences. This power, possessed but by few, may be compared,
although apparently so different, to that of the eagle-eye of a great general, who, by
a glance at the field of battle, takes in not only what is at the moment before him,
but what will happen in the course of the eventful day. Our Shakespeare had the
high quality of knowing and feeling how each of his characters would act under
any circumstances. A great artist is one who, in like manner, knows how the
landscape will appear under varied effects : he thinks no trouble too great, no hill
too steep or high to climb ; difficulties to be surmounted only increase his ardour.
You also must discard laborious idleness, and avoid using your hands while your
head is idle. Think all the higher thoughts of your subject right out, keeping the
leading idea always in sight ; this will prevent your attention being directed to
minor considerations. Eor example, if you are careful and anxious about the
quality and texture of a piece of rock, or the freedom of the touch of a tree, when
you ought to be making the general effect predominant, you will fall into littlenesses.
If you are patience itself in stippling up accessories and background when truth
of drawing or sentiment is wanting, your apparent industry will be thrown away.
What do physicians think of a patient who reads all the medical books he can find,
who is always talking about diseases and his own ailments, and yet never thoroughly
follows the advice of his doctor 1 You must change all these cursory habits, must
see less, talk less, and work more ; you must have the courage to dive below, not
skim the surface, or you never will improve, but always continue merely a clever
amateur, but no artist. There is not so much intricate art in the greatest artists as
you imagine ; their best works are simple, forcible expressions of a determined will.
As a useful discipline, take a group of still life, composed of a Portugal onion-
basket, pans, bottles, &c., on matting ; and having arranged a picturesque group,
good in form, light and shade, and colour, place it in the sun in your garden,
keeping yourself in shade. Work at this steadily two or three hours of a
morning for a fortnight, and then see the result ; you will then discover the
improvement you have made.
Answers to other Questions have been merged in the additional matter
given in each Section of the Work.
CHAPTER IV.
ON PRACTICE.
SECTION I.— SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS, etc.
Summit of Goatfell.
LL our perceptions of air, colour, and dis-
tance being obtained through the influence
of light, the atmosphere surrounding us, as
affected by this light, demands our first
consideration in any attempt to represent
nature in her true colours. The variations presented to our view are so
numerous, and so strikingly affect the appearance of nature, that the land-
scape-artist would do well to give his earliest and best attention to the
general principles governing these changes. Fortunately, this essential
portion of his study is ever open to the student ; for, granted that he is far
removed from other subjects of interest or beauty, — that he is confined
within the straitened limits of a town, — yet in the sky and aqueous vapours
floating in the atmosphere he will find a constant succession of varying
effects, an inexhaustible fund of subjects for his contemplation.
150
LAN DSC APE-PAINTING.
The terms ‘ space 7 and ‘ air * being in art synonymous with ‘ sky/ we
must begin by inquiring what are to the artist the most important qualities
of the atmosphere which surrounds the earth. On looking up to the zenith
when the air is free from aqueous vapour, we are conscious of a perfectly
transparent ether, through which the eye appears to penetrate unbounded
space. This space, viewed from the summits of mountains or other situ-
ations where there are no mists, appears distinctly of dark blue ; yet so
immeasurably does this colour differ from any pigment with which we
attempt its imitation, that the latter can scarcely be deemed the same
colour. This arises from the fact that the former is not a flat tangible
surface, but, on the contrary, a quivering transparent medium, whether
coloured itself or only imparting colour we cannot here inquire, but the
character of which it should be our aim to represent as perfectly distinct
from that of any object on the earth.
To accomplish this in any degree, it will be necessary to dismiss from
our minds all idea of the sky being a blue vault, requiring merely a
pigment of like colour to represent it. Air itself is invisible, and its usual
appearance is derived from the vapours diffused through it ; a fact which
may be proved by looking upwards from some lofty position through a pure
atmosphere, when we shall perceive the space above us to be far darker in
hue than when seen from the usual level of the earth. In our endeavours
to imitate space, we are greatly assisted by the circumstance of the clouds
and mists which float over the landscape having a tendency to blend earth
and sky in harmonious union ; in the same manner that water is united in
appearance to the earth or rocks over which it flows, the water forming a
medium of different degrees of transparency, through which the variously
modified colours, shades, and tints pass in their passage to the eye. Both
air and water alter the colour of objects seen through them ; and as they
are associated in the atmosphere, they are especially capable of showing an
infinite variety of the brilliant colours produced by light. Clouds must be
considered as inseparably related to what is called the sky in which they
float. In it they are formed, and whilst in it dissolve away : consequently,
they must not be separated by painting the one as a solid mass of blue, to
represent the distant sky, and the other as solid masses of gray and white,
SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS.
151
much nearer to the earth than the blue ; hut the whole must partake largely
of the quality of air and space. Such a result may he produced by, at one
time allowing light to penetrate into and through the substance of the
clouds ; at another, by representing them of such opacity as to catch and
reflect large quantities of light. Now as vapour viewed from various posi-
tions varies in its powers of displaying light and colour, we have in clouds
many opportunities of either increasing or diminishing the light of the
picture, while at the same time we vary the colour.
Happily for those who use water-colours, this important portion of the
labours of the artist is, by the medium employed, rendered much less diffi-
cult of execution to them than to the painter in oil ; as they can with
comparative ease gain the effect of air and distance. Indeed, we have in our
modern water-colour paintings many works far superior in these qualities
to any pictures bequeathed to us by the most celebrated of the old masters.
Before commencing the artistic study of clouds, the student would
do well to examine the causes regulating their appearance ; for the latter
are by no means fitful or irregular, but, on the contrary, nature here
as elsewhere is true to herself and obedient to immutable laws. To avoid
making any serious mistake, or introducing clouds into pictures at times
and in situations when and where they could not possibly appear, the
different varieties should be classified ; for which purpose, the mind, whilst
viewing them in nature, should be directed to their connection with the
other circumstances of the time or season, so that pictorial incongruities
may be avoided. In our observations of clouds and sky, we may often take
a hint from the experience of country-people, who, though ignorant of the
practice of art, are often accurate observers, and, from their out-door life,
have abundant opportunities of studying the changing effects of nature.
Although there is more expanse of sky visible from a plain than
a valley, clouds are seen to greater advantage in a mountainous country ;
the difference of elevation affects their forms, and the consequent changes of
light produce a variety which is in union with the scene depicted. Crags
and trees give many occasions of marking both the features of the country
and the nature of the aerial effects which such scenes produce.
Clouds, as usually classed, are in accordance with the heights at which
152
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
they appear. Thus at the greatest elevation is the cirrus, a light filmy
cloud appearing in serene weather. The cumulus, or heaped cloud,
comes next in order; it has a rounded, well-defined shape above, and
is moderately flat below: this description of cloud is generally visible
in the afternoon, and presents many very beautiful forms and colours
towards sunset, when it disappears. When occurring alone, this cloud
generally accompanies fair weather, and, from its density, casts very
refreshing shadows on the earth ; but when united with the stratus more
frequently indicates rain. The stratus, or third kind of cloud, appears as a
low flat mist, often formed by the sinking of masses of vapour in the
evening.
To these may be added the cirro-cumulus, forming a very beautiful
appearance, sometimes called mackerel sky ; and also the small ragged
clouds occasionally seen sailing through the air, which are called scud.
They indicate rain ; and may be either light or dark, according to the
amount of light they receive from the sun. Whenever clouds are depicted,
their character should be in strict conformity, not only to the season of the
year, but also to the hour of the day ; nothing can give the artist this
knowledge but a close observance of nature, and a constant and careful
copying of the atmospheric effects presented to his view.
In Constable’s journal of his practice, there is continual recurrence to
what he called his “ going out skying,” showing how much importance he
attached to that portion of an artist’s studies. By such earnest study,
atmospheric effects may be represented not only with the brush and colours,
but also with chalk, tinted paper, stump and white ; in fact, for rapid
sketching, and when form is of the most importance, these latter materials
frequently answer the purpose better than washes of colour, which take so
long to dry, that the character of the effect is changed, and its evanescent
beauties lost during the progress of the study.
As the mode of working the flat washes constituting the commencement
of skies, clouds, &c., has been described in the previous section, it will only
be necessary to add, that the aerial tones will be more easily produced
when the student, having returned to his study, has time to allow the
washes of colour to dry on, and then to be treated with water, as explained
CRIMSON LAKE. LIGHT RED, INDIAN RED. BROWN MADDER. AND^LACK 8EPIA.
COBALT, LIGHT.
1
ST JUBILIE
©I? (EHliiTSo
FRENCH BLUE.
INDIGO AND COBALT.
LEIGHTON,
n
BROTHERS.
PLATE 10.
.
SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS.
153
at pp. 116 and 135. This should not, however, prevent his attempting to
imitate the tones of nature at the time his sketch is taken ; he can supply
deficiencies in the execution by the addition of written notes on the back
of his sketch.
The student may derive some assistance by turning to the table of aerial
grays (Plate 10), and to the views of Brientz (Plate 9) and Start Point
(Plate 8), where such tones have been attempted ; although the mechanical
result there shown can hut feebly indicate the effect of the pure wash
composed of a mixture of two colours applied by hand. In Plate 10, four
bands of blues, of different qualities and degrees of intensity, are passed
through, or mixed with, various warm tones, principally reds ; thus pro-
ducing grays or purples of different degrees of purity. This will afford
the student an opportunity of studying the qualities of the pigments he
employs, and comparing the tones made by different pigments together ; by
this he will perceive the tendency that any one of them has, for the union
of two often makes these qualities more conspicuous.
TABLE OF AERIAL
No.
1. Cobalt Blue and Crimson.
2. Cobalt Blue and Light Red,
3. Cobalt Blue and Indian Red.
4. Cobalt Blue and Brown Madder.
5. Cobalt Blue and Light Red and Black.
6. Cobalt Blue and Sepia.
7. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Crimson Lake.
8. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Light Red.
9. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Indian Red,
10. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Brown Madder.
11. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Light Red and
Black.
12. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Sepia.
GRAYS, PLATE X.
No.
13. French Blue and Crimson Lake.
14. French Blue and Light Red.
15. French Blue and Indian Red.
16. French Blue and Brown Madder.
17. French Blue and Light Red and Black.
18. French Blue and Sepia.
19. Indigo and Cobalt and Crimson Lake.
20. Indigo and Cobalt and Light Red.
21. Indigo and Cobalt and Indian Red.
22. Indigo and Cobalt and Brown Madder.
23. Indigo and Cobalt and Light Red and
Black.
24. Indigo and Cobalt and Sepia.
Wherever these bands of colour cross or mingle, others of the same
nature may be substituted ; they may also be varied in the proportions
used, as some of these are : thus, for crimson lake, we may put rose madder
or madder carmine if we require greater purity, and force is not desired ; or
purple lake, if we desire great force; for light red, we may substitute Venetian
red ; and as the latter is a purer red, not having so much yellow in it, we shall
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
154
find the mixture is not so green ; for brown madder, purple madder, and so
on. The student in this way may form such arrangements as will supply an
endless variety of tints, and the practice will also assist him in acquiring
a knowledge of the colours he employs.
The following additional notes, with reference to this table, will show in
what order, and for what purpose, the different tints may be used :
AERIAL TINTS FOR SKIES AND CLOUDS.
For first washes, to prepare the paper,
Neutral Orange, composed of varied quantities of Yellow Ochre and
Brown Madder, for skies, clouds, and distances in general.
Cadmium and Bose Madder or Madder Carmine, for those skies
where great purity is required.
Light Bed, Venetian Bed, or Indian Bed are also employed in deli-
cate washes to give warmth.
When the first tint, of whatever composed, is dry, and has been washed
off, the bluish-grays are to follow, according to the tone or effect desired,
the student bearing in mind that each succeeding wash leaves more of the
paper untouched ; so that at last, by repeated additions of tints partaking
more and more of the cobalt or other pure blues, the lights appear by com-
parison of a rich mellow tint. In water-colour painting, cobalt is the most
useful blue for skies and distances ; it is shown in Plate 10 of two degrees
of strength, and also mixed with a little indigo. Should the washes of it
appear a little green, it will be necessary to pass them over a slight wash of
rose madder or crimson lake, or pass a wash of French blue over them.
For the tones of daylight skies, cobalt therefore takes the precedence in
our table.
French Blue produces fine deep tones with the same colours, but it
does not work so welL It is better, in the course of the working of the
sky, to pass a slight wash of it over the cobalt and other colours.
Indigo and Prussian Blue require to be used with the greatest caution.
In skies or distances the former is generally too heavy, and inclined to
green ; but for twilights it is very useful, as it produces the effect of sub-
dued depth and a gray tone, taking away the cold rawness of cobalt.
SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS.
1 55
Tints of crimson lake will be found mixed with cobalt and other blues
in Plate 10, Nos. 1, 7, 13, 19.
Light Eed, mixed with the blues, produces tones much less pure or
aerial ; having yellow in its composition, it causes them to incline to green.
(Vide Plate 10, Nos. 2, 8, 14, 20.)
Light Eed, mixed with black and cobalt blue, makes a fine silvery
gray tone, scarcely possible to be represented, but attempted in Plate 10,
Nos. 5, 11, 17, 23.
Venetian Eed may sometimes be substituted for light red. Both of
these make good tones for the shadowed parts of clouds.
Indian Eed in light washes will be found very useful in all skies of
deep subdued tone, or in clouds of a stormy character ; although much like
brown madder, it is in these parts of a drawing to be preferred ; the only
difficulty is to prevent its appearing heavy, as it absorbs much light. (Vide
Plate 10, Nos. 3, 9, 15, 21.)
Brown Madder is in all its mixtures exceedingly useful for the distance
and middle distance ; joined with any of the blues it forms fine grays, vary-
ing from aerial tones to deep rich maroons. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 4, 10,
16, 22.)
Sepia, rendered cool with cobalt or French blue, is of much use in the
quiet russet tones of the middle distance. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 6, 12,
18, 24.)
The changes which can be produced by varying the quantities of each
of these pigments are innumerable, and to repeat them would only confuse
the pupil. Enough has been done by the combination of Plate 10 and notes
to show him their nature and uses. For the tones of sunset, or rich golden
skies, the first washes are composed of variations of the following pigments :
Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Yellow.
Yellow Ochre, Indian Yellow, and Bose Madder.
Gamboge, or Lemon Yellow, and Cadmium Yellow ; Gamboge and
Bose Madder.
In fact, all the first five of the pigments shown in Plate 4 may be used ;
the first three more as auxiliaries in light washes ; the two others in re-
peated washes.
156
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
In scarlet and crimson sunsets or sunrise clouds, more of red pigments
must be used. Amongst these ranks first in importance Rose Madder,
called also when purified and more intense Madder Carmine (No. 12,
Plate 4) ; then Crimson Lake (No. 13) ; and sometimes a little Indian
Red (No. 15), or Purple Madder (No. 16). In purple, and the deeper-
toned clouds, we may use the madders more freely, and substitute Prench
blue for cobalt.
In twilights, or dark cloudy effects, where great power is desired, French
Blue and Indigo are to be preferred, the tendency to green in the latter
being corrected by some of the stronger reds, as Crimson Lake, Indian
Red, Purple and Brown Madder ; when more neutral tones are required,
Lamp Black, Ivory Black, or Ultramarine Ash are used in addition,
these pigments affording silvery grays of a soft or subdued character.
In forming all these aerial grays we must endeavour to select the most
transparent pigments ; and by using them, when painting skies, in thin but
full washes, and also by the repeated washing mentioned in Chapter III.,
Section III., on Mode of Working, we attain the greatest clearness and force
of colour, without however approaching gaudiness.
TREES.
157
SECTION II.— TREES.
form so
important a portion of all pleasing landscapes, that
painters in water-colours find they engross a large
share of their time and thoughts. In nature they
are the objects of universal admiration ; the eye is
never fatigued while dwelling on their refreshing tints and graceful forms ;
without them our landscape scenery would he barren and incomplete ;
whereas a fine tree will itself present a beautiful picture, showing vegeta-
tion in its most vigorous development, abounding in variety of form, of
light and shade, and of colour ; adding grace and beauty to the landscape,
refreshing the eye, and forming an intermediate link between earth and air.
Ever full of life and motion, it offers a succession of beautiful changes,
marking thereby the various seasons, — the fresh delicate hue of Spring, the
deep vigorous green of Summer, the rich glowing tints of the decaying
foliage in Autumn ; and, even in dreary Winter, the leafless yet beautiful
skeleton adds a charm to the scene, and shows the character of each kind
almost as plainly as when in full foliage.
Should we, because this important branch of our pursuit requires much
study and care, avoid it, and select only such scenes as possess these beauties
in a slighter degree ? Should we not rather devote our most earnest endea-
vours to understand and master its difficulties, fully convinced that we shall
be amply repaid for any additional labour we may take ?
158
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Trees, like other portions of nature, constantly varying and multitudinous
in their parts, require to be studied according to some methodical arrange-
ment ; and it is the author’s wish to give here a slight outline of the system
he recommends for this purpose, referring the student to his former works
on foliage for the more minute details of the subject. Trees may be viewed
either individually or in connection with other effects ; and, having become
acquainted with their character as they generally appear when in a perfect
state, the artist soon abandons the mere botanical study, and delights in
taking them as component parts of the whole scenery of a countryT^An inti-
macy with their botanical character and habit will be found of great assist-
ance ; for by it he becomes aware of their usual appearance, their height
and breadth, and their comparative size and form, — qualities best seen
against the sky. Perhaps the next most important characteristic to mark
is the colour of their foliage ; when, by close observation, the student has
become fully acquainted with this, he will be able, even when at a con-
siderable distance, to distinguish the kind of tree he wishes to represent.
Character will, of course, be most strongly developed in the full-grown tree.
After the general colour, the light and shade should be remarked. f In trees
the power of reflecting masses of light varies considerably ; for the foliage of
some — such as the elm, beech, &c. — is so dense, and the disposition of the
branches so arranged, that the form of the light masses can more readily be
distinguished, and the character more easily delineated than in others, like
the birch, which have thin or scattered leaves.
The position of the trunk and limbs must be duly observed : the stems
of most trees growing on level ground will be upright, and the head well
balanced ; the branches may not be equally placed, but the general quan-
tities will be the same ; on unlevel ground, on the banks of rivers, sides of
cliffs, &c., or when trees grow in groups, or meet with obstruction in any
direction, their positions vary, many appearing much inclined to the
horizon. In this respect the object of the artist differs materially from that
of the botanist ; the latter preferring for his specimen a perfect tree, undis-
turbed in its growth by any irregularity or accidental circumstance ; even
wishing it to be sheltered from any strong prevalent wind that might give
it an inclination contrary to his ideas of perfection. The artist, on the
TREES.
159
other hand, is delighted to see the greatest diversity in growth and situa-
tion, such as the effects of irregular ground or rocks on the form, the
result of wind or storms blowing down some trees and leaving the trunks
of others more exposed : the grouping of several trees together also causes
great variety in the disposition and growth of their branches. Although
the natural form or outline of a tree can only he ascertained when it stands
alone, yet the character of each kind will he strongly developed when they
are accompanied by other objects which afford opportunities for displaying
their peculiarities. Such opportunities frequently occur ; as, for instance,
the association of the ash with ruins.
Trees are much affected by the soil, situation, and climate in which they
grow : some, like the pine and fir, increase in height ; others, like the oak
or chestnut, spread in width.
Branches of trees vary much in their size and the angles they make with
the parent stem ; in some, as the oak, chestnut, &c., the trunk appears to
be almost lost among the branches ; those of the fir tribe have very small
limbs in proportion to the size of their trunks. In some, again, each branch
divides into many branchlets — as the oak, beech, birch, &c. ; while others,
such as the poplar, possess but a few small twigs or sprays. The mode in
which the leaves combine should also he carefully studied. The usual form
of groups of foliage is either roundish or oval ; but some, like the beech and
cedar, have their sprays or twigs so arranged that they appear like layers
or strata.
^ In drawing the trunks and principal branches of trees, a difficulty occurs
which nothing hut a close observance of nature will obviate; for, with
regard to the main stem, it will not be sufficient to mark the outline only
where it proceeds from the ground, but it will also be essential to observe
how the trunk rises from the large, well-defined roots, protruding, in many
species, quite out of the earth ; these, owing to the variety of forms pre-
sented by grass or broken ground about them, afford many opportunities of
giving true perspective. Sometimes, indeed, in thick woods, this important
point may be rendered obscure by the continual fall of leaves ; but trees
standing in open situations always rise out of the ground with a conspicuous
base, formed by the junction of the trunk with the roots. No circumstances
160
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.1
add more to the effect of a tree, as a noble and stately object in a landscape,
than the appearance of its massive trunk rising from a secure and widely-
spreading base; and when old trees standing singly in a park are intro-
duced, it is especially necessary to represent this appearance correctly. The
stem itself should appear in the centre of the foliage, and of a round form,
becoming more taper at the separation of each branch ; this tapering
recommencing at the divisions rather than being carried on by a regular
decrease from the root upwards. The branches should be spread throughout
the foliage in graceful ramifications, — not by a succession of curves, but by
a just combination of curves and angles of different degrees, presenting the
most varied lines of beauty. When hidden by the foliage they should be so
represented as to be carried on in imagination, until they re-appear in their
proper place and of their true size, being at last lost among the leaves at the
extremities.
Although it is necessary to examine thus carefully the prevailing mode
of growth and character of trees, so that the student may be able to repre-
sent them faithfully, he must bear in mind that he is not expected to exhibit
in his paintings more detail than would be perceived by any person un-
acquainted with their peculiarities when viewing them from a distance.
A previous study of the characteristic touch of each kind of foliage, in
pencil or chalk, having given the student much command over his brush ;
and practice with the brush and sepia having made him master of many of
the difficulties of handling, — he will, as a consequence, find colour and the
brush far more effective and rapid than either chalk or pencil, and with care
he will approach much nearer to nature : still there will be some difficulty
in arriving at all the varieties of tint, air, distance, or looseness of ap-
pearance ; so that it will be useful to recur again and again to chalk, in
order to keep up that variety and delicacy in detail and freshness of nature
which he should aim at preserving.
One important point is to be observed on commencing the use of colour :
the local colour of all trees is dark in comparison with many other objects,
and has to be represented without destroying the breadth of light and shade.
Some trees, with dense foliage, take large massive lights, and their shadows
consequently appear proportionately dark ; others, with scattered and thin
TREES.
161
foliage, have scarcely any difference in the light or shadowed side ; but in
these instances the stems, being more seen, give a compensating air of grace
and motion.
Having by these observations arrived at some idea of the growth and
varieties of character appertaining to trees, we must now, in order to gain
the power of delineating them with ease, examine the details of the tufting
or subordinate masses of foliage, — a knowledge of which, added to that of
the forms of their leaves and general growth, will enable us to depict the
whole with firmness and energy ; for, as foliage cannot be copied with
minute fidelity, but, on the contrary, the touch representing it should be
rather suggestive, and the forms generalised, it is essential that we should
be intimately acquainted with the anatomy of the different species. An /*
outline of the trunk and branches being carefully drawn, and the boundary
line of the foliage marked, the next proceeding is to put in the masses of
colour with bold but not careless handling. The touch should possess such
a character as may inform the eye at a glance to what species the tree
belongs ; for by at once securing individuality when the masses are put in,
much subsequent trouble and uncertainty will be avoided. In this parti-
cular, water-colour differs materially from oil-painting, in which the masses
of colour are first rubbed in, and then the extremities finished by degrees.
The chief thing is to give to the touches that ease and freedom which are
the characteristics of nature ; and this cannot be done unless the hand, by
previous practice in drawing all kinds of lines, has acquired that free and
graceful motion which alone can enable it to express every variety of form
with firmness, decision, ease, and grace. The facility of effecting all this
may be followed up by studies imparting a like power over the deeper sub-
tleties of colour, the attractive force of which is so great, that it may be
said to amount to fascination. The student should bear in mind that, in
nearly every case, the whole mass of foliage is lower in tone than the sky ;
and when laying in the first tints, representing the local colour with the
requisite degrees of firmness, it will rarely be found necessary to leave
any portion of the foliage of the lighter tone of the paper or sky already put
on, the light spaces between the leaves and boughs being the only parts so
left. The quality of the first tone is usually neither so warm as the lightest
M
162
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
leaves, nor so cool as the shadows ; yet it may occasionally he allowed to
vary, and be made a little warmer on the light side, and a little darker and
cooler on the shadowed side and lower parts of the tree. Example No. 1,
in Plate 11, gives a correct idea of the first tint. It is -perfectly flat ; but
owing to the curvature of the outline, and form of the spaces left without
colour, it appears rather convex. The character of the touch is that of the
elm. Example 2, representing the oak, is more angular in the touch ; in
this the shadows are added, the attention being still confined to the broad
masses in light, without attempting the half-lights or half-darks.
At this point the student has one great difficulty to surmount ; for the
shadows in the recesses of the foliage must not resemble dark leaves or
other objects, but should appear merely like the absence of light. The
outline of the first tint, on the shadowed side, is not often followed by these
shades. Sometimes they project to the extremity ; at other times, the
thinness of the foliage, or reflected light, will cause them to be withdrawn
some distance from it, avoiding in this way a parallel line, which has a
formal, and indeed an unnatural appearance.
While attending to outside forms, the mass of light must be left convex,
a point requiring great attention in handling the brush ; for, owing to its
formation and the greater ease with which the hand makes convex rather
than concave forms, the inexperienced pupil must exercise great caution in
order to leave convex such portions as are intended to be prominent ; and
retaining this in mind at the commencement of his practice, he will soon be
enabled to overcome the difficulty caused by this tendency. In Example 3,
showing a loose or scattered foliage, the above observation applies with
still greater force ; for as each leaf, or group of leaves, is complete in itself,
the preservation of the convexity of the outline is indispensable.
When the foliage is thin and much scattered, as that of the birch, it is
better to draw the tree in the first instance with its branches and twigs
complete, afterwards adding the leaves in their proper places. In Example 4,
the light parts are relieved cool upon a warm ground, and in this and
the three preceding examples the sun is supposed to be behind the spec-
tator, a little to the left — this being the easiest position in which to portray
the effect. Owing to the disposition of the light, or the cool local colour
PLATE 11.
z:zj£ti :?hes m mi&ss.
LEIGHTON, BROTHERS.
PLATE 12.
OTIS Mo ITOOT iOT OTKTm
TREES.
163
of the foliage, it sometimes happens that the whole mass relieves cool, as in
this instance, from a body of warm colour, presented either by a sunset or
the local colour of the objects behind. Examples 4, 5, and 6, show the
reflection of the cool tint of the sky behind the spectator ; and should the
foliage be glossy — many leaves being so — the upper portions and extreme
edges, partaking of the character of the sky, will be still cooler ; while the
rich bright colour seen through the leaves and branches, attracting the eye,
will cause it to penetrate to the warmer tone beyond. In Example 7,
warm autumnal colours are massed together. In this case, the light parts
being illuminated by the sun, their tints are extremely rich, and the eye
penetrates, as it were, the whole mass, which possesses great depth of colour
without blackness. To obtain this effect, great care in preserving the
purity of the tones is required, and the whole must be worked by a process
of dappling in pure colours harmonising with each other.
Trees present many varieties of tints, some partaking so largely of the
gray or purple character that they can scarcely be called green ; such are
those of the fir tribe — dusky and deep in their general aspect, and, even
when lighted up by the sun, neutral in their appearance. (Vide Example 8.)
Again, there are others rendered neutral either by distance or the varying
effects of air and light. Thus, in Example 9, the green tones, notwith-
standing the light in which they are viewed, are changed almost to a warm
broken gray. To form this, pigments semi-opaque and undecided in their
character are used.
Having described the varieties of foliage shown in Plate 11, we will
now pass on to an elementary example of the elm (Plate 12), showing the
first tints.
The first general tint and shadow having been put in with a brush
always sufficiently full to give transparency and richness, the masses will
have rather a hard appearance, without much apparent freedom ; and water-
colour drawings in this state have a commonplace air : there is great
breadth, but none of that play of light and shade, none of that intricacy of
form and endless variety of colour, abounding in nature ; so that it requires
considerable reliance on recognised principles to proceed with the hope of
arriving at a good result. These broad masses are now to be subdued by
M 2
164
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
half-darks, slightly varied in colour, but still cooler than the broad mass of
light. The completion of the foliage must not be attempted with this part
of the process, the greatest darks and highest lights being yet to come. In
the disposition of these, the pupil must constantly bear in mind the direc-
tion of the light, as the broadest mass of light must be preserved on that
part of the foliage nearest to the side whence it proceeds. The whole
mass of foliage being now subdivided, it will be perceived that some of the
groups of leaves may in a degree be made to retire by casting half -shadows
from one branch to another, taking care that the transparent shadows thus
cast carry the lines from the upper part of the tree obliquely downwards.
When these are put in with varying degrees of force and colour, the intri-
cacy of the foliage is much increased. The branches are now added with
that decision which nothing but previous drawing of their outline, and sub-
sequent laying in masses of foliage to correspond, could give. Upon the
drawing and colour of these will greatly depend the life and truthfulness
of the representation. If they are too visible, or brought too forward by
strong positive colour or shadows, the whole of the foliage will appear on
the farther side of the tree ; if they are not sufficiently distinct, the tree
will look heavy and flat ; the branches should project from the stems in a
natural, characteristic manner, pass behind the dense masses of foliage, and
freely intersperse themselves among the boughs and leaves : in the position
in which trees are usually viewed, they will be seen beneath the broadest
masses of light, not upon them ; and their colour will be influenced in a
great measure by the foliage and light. Tor the sake of simplicity, this
plate of the elm is left in this stage, and the student is also referred to the
previous elementary examples, Plate 11. For the concluding description of
finished foliage, he is referred to Plate 14. The branches having been
broadly but firmly delineated, the highest lights on the foliage are to be
given ; and it will be found that taking out their forms gives the greatest
relief and opacity. The mode of effecting this with decision is to touch
repeatedly a few of the leaves with water ; and when it is absorbed with
blotting-paper, to rub them smartly out, rubbing from the light sky into
the dark tree, and thus not taking any of the green into the sky : this may
be done either with a cloth or india-rubber. Other touches are afterwards
TREES.
165
added, so as here to form masses, and there scattered foliage. Some of
these are again glazed down with the richer and more transparent pigments,
others with cooler tones ; the whole group of leaves or boughs being brought
out by the addition of deep and warm tones, dappled in so as to preserve
transparency in the shadows, and avoid coldness or blackness. Although
the whole tree is now assuming a complete form, yet there will be a want
of perspective in the extreme edges of the foliage, or the underneath parts
of the boughs, resulting either from the fullness with which the first tint
was put on, or the difficulty of afterwards changing it sufficiently to give
aerial perspective to different parts of the same bough. These edges can,
however, be reduced by delicately touching them with a brush and water ;
at the same time taking care to rub the superfluous colour towards the
foliage, and not towards the sky or lighter parts of the drawing. The
under part of the retiring boughs, after being thus rendered more distant,
may be glazed down with French blue, and some kind of red ; thus pro-
ducing cooler and grayer tones. The final touches (giving grace, lightness,
and mobility, with variety of form and colour, to the foliage and branches)
are now to be added. It is in this portion of his labours that the accom-
plished artist delights. At this moment he feels that the hours he has
spent with nature — his innumerable and varied studies of each kind of
foliage and tree — his careful notes and observations on the effect produced
on the colour by the time of day and the season of the year, the degree of
transparency or gloss on the leaf, and the variety of the texture and tint of
the bark, — all combined will enable him to complete the drawing begun
with so much system and breadth, by adding the delicate refinements of
art while aiming at an accurate representation of nature. It is precisely
at this moment that the amateur, without system and education in art,
feels his deficiency. ITe adds, — but only to detract from the effect of
what he has already done. Beginning without any idea of arrangement or
order, he has made a most careful outline of the minutest parts, putting in
innumerable touches in order to secure the character and shapes of the
foliage : by a constant repetition of these anxious labours, he destroys all
breadth of effect, all freedom of handling, and all clearness of colour ; in
his desire to preserve form, he has lost it ; in aiming at clearness of colour-
166
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
ing, lie lias either become feeble, or by a repetition of tints, confused the
forms, and produced muddiness ; thus proving the importance, in this
pursuit, of some well-defined system upon which to depend for success.
On the other hand, the artist now ceases to concern himself with the first
difficulties of mixture of tints, the handling of the extremities, or the free-
dom of the branches. Placing his picture on the easel, he retires to such a
distance as to enable him to see it as he would nature herself ; forgetting
his previous labours, he regards it with a fresh and unprejudiced eye : he
examines the tree with regard to other portions of the subject ; he ascertains
if it agrees with them in tone, sentiment, and expression ; whether it
engrosses too much or engages too little of the attention ; whether it is
well placed on the ground, has too much weight of foliage, separates the
lights of the picture, or has the proper gradation of colour towards the
base. In this way he judges if it be possible, by a few touches with his
penknife, to let sparkling lights peer through the detached leaves ; whether
by these means he can show the outline of the trunk or branches more
distinctly ; also whether, with some judiciously placed and brilliant leaves,
either taken out with the same instrument, or put on with opaque white
and Naples or lemon yellow, he can bring the nearest boughs more forward.
He notes that each branch is in its proper place, — here adding force, there
taking away dark ; his object being to leave the tree as free and graceful as
in nature, — a beautiful retreat for birds flying for refuge among its branches.
In speaking of the exceeding intricacy of foliage, and the impossibility
of representing it leaf by leaf without system, Ruskin, in his Modern
Painters , has a passage so appropriate that it is here added : “ But if nature
is so various when you have a bough on the table before you, what must
she be when she retires from you, and gives you her whole mass and mul-
titude ? The leaves then at the extremities become as fine as dust, — a
mere confusion of points and lines between you and the sky, — a confusion
which you might as well hope to draw sea-sand particle by particle as to
imitate leaf for leaf. This, as it comes down into the body of the tree, gets
closer, but never opaque. It is always transparent, with crumbling lights
in it letting you through to the sky. Then out of this come, heavier and
heavier, the masses of illumined foliage, all dazzling and inextricable, save
TREES.
167
here and there a single leaf on the extremities. Then under these you get
deep passages of broken, irregular gloom, passing into transparent, green-
lighted, misty hollows ; the twisted stems glancing through them in their
pale and entangled infinity, and the shafted sunbeams, rained from above,
running along the lustrous leaves for an instant, then lost, then caught
again on some emerald bank or knotted root, to be sent up again with a
faint reflex on the white under-sides of dim groups of drooping foliage ; the
shadows of the upper boughs running in gray network down the glossy
stems, and resting in quiet checkers upon the glittering earth ; but all
penetrable and transparent, and, in proportion, inextricable and incompre-
hensible, except where, across the labyrinth and the mystery of the dazzling
light and dreamlike shadow, falls, close to us, some solitary spray, some
wreath of two or three motionless large leaves, the type and embodying of
all that in the rest we feel and imagine, but can never see.”
Shadows cast by trees vary much in their colour and density ; the latter
being in some, the beech for instance, so intense that it does not even
permit the grass to grow; thus causing a change in the local colour of the
part beneath : in others, again, it is much lighter and more diffused. In
all cases, when the shadow of foliage falls on the trunks, it will give rise to
great variety of line, and afford many opportunities for showing the true
perspective of the form.
In respect to the checkered light and shade proceeding from single
leaves or separated masses of foliage, the student can scarcely escape, during
his early observations of shadows cast by the sun, meeting with difficulty in
accounting for the innumerable varieties presented to his view. A leaf close
to a wall will cast a shadow in form like itself ; another leaf at the distance
of a yard or two will give a shadow of indefinite outline, having a round
instead of an angular edge ; a leaf at a greater distance will produce a mere
dimness hardly distinguishable as to shape. In like manner, an angular
opening among the leaves, if near the wall, will produce an illuminated
angular space ; but if distant, it will present a rounded form. All this
depends upon the apparent size of the sun — the source of these lights and
shadows. If a screen, having in it a round hole about half an inch in
diameter, be held so as to cast its shadow on the floor, there will appear on
168
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the latter a circle of light corresponding with the hole. If the screen he
close to the floor, this light circle will be of the sam% size as the hole ; but
on raising it from the floor, the illuminated space will become larger and
larger, and its edge more and more diffused and indistinct. If triangular
instead of round, then, when the screen is near the floor, it will give a
triangular space of light ; but as the screen is moved away, this space in-
creases, and becoming dim at the edges, the angles disappear, and at a
certain distance the aperture gives a round image of the sun four or five
times larger than that seen in the first position. On examination it will
readily be perceived that these effects arise from the apparent size of the
luminary compared with the aperture, and that the light from one side of
the sun passing through it obliquely, crosses to the other side under the
screen ; and that this action, being repeated all round, produces the
enlarged image of the sun on the floor beneath. When the aperture is a
mere pinhole, the effect becomes that of the camera obscura ; when larger,
the round illuminated space is really an imperfect image of the sun. Thus,
when the apertures between the leaves of a tree are small and distant from
the place where the shadows fall, the light spaces are rounded, being rough
images of the sun overlapping each other. This is so true, that in a partial
eclipse, the peculiar effect produced often causes great surprise ; for the
light spaces on the ground or walls have the same form as that presented at
the time by the sun itself ; though, owing to the crossing of the rays at the
aperture, the position of these forms is that of the sun inverted. It should
be remarked, that the brilliancy and power of the sunlight in these rounded
spaces are much diminished ; so that they must be represented by a grayer
tone, making a considerable contrast in this respect to those larger open-
ings among the leaves where the sun shines in full force. A careful artist
will observe another interesting effect produced by these lights and shadows-
If a leaf or other object intervene, in the course of the rays coming through
an aperture in the upper part of a tree, its shadow will be thrown on the
ground or wall with remarkable distinctness ; of this he may convince him-
self by intercepting, with the hand or a small spray, the passage of the rays.
The philosopher easily traces the cause of this effect to the laws governing
the passage of rays of light, which, as they must proceed in right lines*
GAMBOGE. INDIAN YELLOW. RAW SIENNA. BURNT SIENNA. VAN. BROWN BROWN PINK
fAME ®IF ©EMUS AH® MSSMg,
LEIGHTON. BROTHERS.
PLATE 13
TREES.
1G9
cannot cross again in passing from the aperture to the ground. The artist
who paints with great accuracy may occasionally require such an effect, and
therefore it is well to be aware of its nature.
By turning to Plate 1 3 (a table of greens and russets), some idea may
be formed of the great variety of tones that may be produced without in-
cluding those mixtures under the indefinite titles of Hooker’s, Yarley’s
green, &c. It may be well to observe, that the tints in this diagram are
merely approximations to the mixtures made with the pigments named
in the margin ; they are neither so powerful, so transparent, nor so well
defined as those which the pupil can make with water ; but in the absence
of the master, they will in some degree serve to indicate the pigments to
be used.
Selecting indigo as the most useful blue in water-colours for forming
greens, and cobalt blue with a little indigo, the two extremes are indicated ;
Prussian blue is also represented as possessing great clearness and trans-
parency ; we may add French blue and ultramarine, — sometimes used, but
difficult to represent in these tables. Taking, then, indigo , and mixing it, as
in Example Ho. 1, Plate 13, with gamboge , a most agreeable and natural
tone is the result ; with Indian yellow, as in Ho. 2, a more powerful and
vivid tone is produced, slightly inclined to opacity, owing to the turbid
tendency of the Indian yellow. These are both suitable, with more or less
of blue, for summer tints ; but should it be desirable to give more of an
autumnal tone, the addition of burnt sienna, Ho. 4, is easily made. The
pupil will, with very few experiments, perceive that the addition of any of
the pigments inclining to red tends to degrade or render the green pro-
duced in the first instance less vivid ; but he should also bear in mind that
the fewer pigments he uses to form his tints, the clearer and more trans-
parent they will be ; and that rather than gain the required tint by repeated
additions, he should wash all out of his brush and begin again with others
better suited for his purpose. Suppose, however, he wishes to make the
tints shown in 1, 2, and 3 rather more neutral, without taking away the
general warmth, he can add a little of the lakes or madders : one of these
tints is shown in Ho. 5. Indigo, with raw sienna, Ho. 3, is a more subdued
and indefinite green, suitable, in light washes, for the first tints of water ;
170
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
with Prussian blue, French blue, and cobalt, these tones will vary in purity
and transparency ; and the addition of a little crimson lake or madder pro-
duces those indefinite gray greens so often seen in water.
The mixture of indigo and brown pink has already been named as a full-
toned and transparent green. All these tints will incline to cool or warm
according to the proportion of blue or yellow used ; but should it be desir-
able to produce rich autumnal tones, or to glaze over those already made,
suitable tints will be obtained by mixing transparent pigments, such as
gamboge, with brown madder, or Indian yellow with rose or purple madder .
Unfortunately, in water-colours, it is not easy to retain clearness and trans-
parency when glazing one pigment over another; it is apt to produce black-
ness in the shadows of foliage, — a fault by all means to be avoided.
When greens are made with French blue or cobalt, they will be purer
and more aerial than those formed with indigo, and be found very useful as
variations of colour for the more distant portions of foliage. Some of these
mixtures are shown in Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.
To produce greater variety in the green of trees and other objects, as
well as to obviate an appearance of coldness and thinness occasioned by the
continual introduction of blues, the richer yellow and faded tones of grass
or herbage in the foreground are frequently made by mixing sepia and
gamboge , No. 13 ; sepia and Indian yellow, No. 14 ; sepia and raw sienna,
No. 15. With Prussian blue the greens are cooler and more decided than
with indigo, and are shown in Nos. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24.
Although the stems and branches of trees, from being for the most part
in shadow, do not present such marked variety of colour as the foliage, yet
they have some peculiarities requiring mention ; generally speaking, they
are deeper in tone than the foliage, with the exception of the birch, beech,
aspen, and ash ; even the last three would often appear of a dark gray were
it not for the contrast afforded by the surrounding foliage. The principal
thing is to avoid blackness or too deep and decided a colour, such as pure
Vandyke brown, umber, &c. Vandyke brown and umber, however, mixed
with a little indigo or French blue, are very useful. Brown madder, again, by
itself may be too rich in tone, even for the lights ; but with a little yellow
ochre, or ivory black, it. is very true to nature, and with indigo, or French
■t
•£ m
D'Xf'iiXO
II A H a1 S'.
PLATE 14
TREES.
171
blue, excellent for the cooler shadows. The same may be said of burnt
sienna ; Indian yellow added gives the deep mossy green tint for branches
and stems in shadow. Almost all the grays used in the middle distance are
also employed, varied by light red, rose madder, purple madder, or yellow
ochre. Sepia, varied with the same pigments for the light, or with blues
and a little lake for cooler-coloured branches, is equally useful ; and, to con-
clude with the same advice given before in the description of foliage, avoid
blackness or a dirty appearance, and endeavour to gain power and depth by
passing one pure tint or colour over another rather than by putting the
full strength on at once.
In Plate 14, the lower portions of a group of beech-trees have been
given, in order to show the kind of subject the pupil will find it best to
commence with ; as by avoiding many of the difficulties occurring in the
delineation of more numerous and intricate masses of foliage, and seizing
the opportunity of striking contrast, for which the trunk of the beech-tree
is remarkable, he will soon find that he can make pleasing pictures. In
such subjects it frequently happens that the difference of colour among the
stems will afford sufficient contrast ; but if this is aided by a fortunate
occurrence of light and shadow, the student will be relieved from one of
the difficulties in arranging the chiaroscuro of his subject. In this example
he may observe that care has been taken to preserve the general breadth of
light on the trunks of the trees, by keeping the cast shadows transparent ;
fortunately, also, the dark-coloured moss, which might have destroyed that
oreadth, is on the shadowed side.
The student’s attention should in the first instance be given to the care-
ful and minute study of simple subjects, consisting principally of objects
placed immediately in the foreground, with just that small portion of dis-
tance which is necessary to afford variety to the tints. Rocks, banks,
cottages, and beech-stems, are well suited for the pupil’s first attempts in
colouring from nature, the objects being sufficiently large, while they are
varied in form and colour by their proximity to the eye ; also their details are
easily seen, thus affording many opportunities for the practice of the pencil
or the brush. Let him not overlook or despise such bits of rustic nature
because they are not views of great extent or grand scenes ; when he can
paint portions of landscapes well, he may enlarge his ideas, or extend his
172
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
range of subjects. In our exhibitions we may continually observe how
popular such scenes are with the British public, when depicted by the
graceful, varied, and powerful touch of Harding, the bold and vigorous hand-
ling of Lee, or the careful and delicate refinement of Creswick. In subjects
like these close at hand, bushes and young trees which fringe the banks, or
that grow among the rocks, have a more separated and distinct touch than
when the foliage is in larger masses ; and like all foliage of shrubs and
young trees, it points more directly upwards than that of older trees.
Addressing ourselves more particularly to colour, we find that the green
of trees may be composed of many different pigments ; but for water-colour
painting, those which are nearly transparent are to be preferred, and in
general the student will obtain great variety by mixing blue and yellow
pigments. But some of these not being very permanent, those fading or
deepening in equal proportions should be selected ; thus he will find indigo
with gamboge or Indian yellow , or, for a deeper tone, the same blue with
brown pink, form a rich and natural green.
In Chapter III., Section III., on “the Handling of the Brush,” directions
have been given to use in the first attempts a neutral tint, so that
the pupil, when employed in the practice of colour, may not have to en-
counter all the difficulties at the same time. In concluding this portion of
the work, however, it may be as well to point out that there are varieties in
the form of brushes which greatly facilitate the introduction of certain
shapes and touches. Thus a large round sable in an eagle or swan quill
may suffice for the broad and flat tints at the beginning ; but it should not
be so large that it cannot be used to give the outside terminations of the
foliage with its true character, as this is generally better done at once,
although light and separated sprays may be added at the conclusion. A
flat and rather short sable is also used ; and with it and some tff the more
opaque pigments, great variety of touch and form can be obtained ; when
the colour is thick, or gum or megilp is used, much the same effect is pro-
duced as is obtained in oil. The water-colour painter cannot fail to regard
as a valuable power the facility of putting on the highest lights possessed
by the painter in oil ; but notwithstanding this, he should avoid as much
as possible the employment of opaque body-colour, as, although it may add
to the force, will certainly detract from the transparency of the work.
FOREGROUNDS.
173
SECTION III.— FOREGROUNDS.
^ - ^ anxiety to the pupil. A small object near at hand becomes
of great importance when reproduced in a picture : if skilfully executed, the
foreground possesses the power of satisfying the eye, ancl, at the same time,
allowing it to pass on to the rest of the subject ; but if overwrought, or too
minutely finished, it is apt to engross the attention due to objects in the
distance of far greater magnitude and interest ; consequently a clear idea
of the nature and purpose of the foreground is a matter of great moment.
The capability of first engaging the attention without absorbing it is a most
desirable quality ; as an introduction, it may be compared to the overture
of an opera, which conveys merely a general idea, to be more fully developed
as the action proceeds.
The objects of which a foreground is composed, although well selected
and carefully drawn from nature, may, on a first view of the picture, appear
to want finish. This, however, on a closer examination, may be found not
to arise from any deficiency of knowledge ; in fact, an intimate acquaintance
with the forms of the near portion of a picture, their lights and shades,
reflections and variations of colour, should not lead the artist to elaborate
174
LANDSCAPE-P AINTING.
display or servile copying : his skill will be evident from the ease of exe-
cution, the variety of touch, truth of character, of surface, of colour, hut
above all, in the judicious control with which his work is executed.
Careful and varied studies from nature afford a facility of selecting such
lines and forms for the foreground as have reference to the rest of the sub-
ject, they being indeed some of the objects in the picture brought close to
the eye ; and the cultivated taste of the artist will lead him to reject forms
not characteristic, or which repeat those of the distance. From the con-
tinual action of rain or falling water, the forms of rocks, stones, and banks
in the foreground will be convex ; and although the most picturesque roads
are strongly marked by ruts and inequalities, and banks or ground may be
greatly varied by scattered rocks and broken surfaces, they should not bear
the appearance of having been newly disturbed, but be naturally placed ;
and besides paying attention to the varieties of local colour, the appropriate
light and shade must be given to each part.
It is sometimes alleged, as an excuse for inaccurate or careless drawing
of the foreground, that it is not distinctly seen when the eye rests on the
middle or extreme distance, it being at such time out of the focus of the
eye. Doubtless it is so ; but pictures are not to be judged by the strict laws
of optics — they are altogether conventional ; in nature we cannot look at
the distance and foreground without imperceptibly altering the focus of the
eye ; neither can we look at two portions of a picture at the same moment
with attention without altering the direction of the eye. It will, therefore,
he sufficient if our studies afford us the power of giving a general appearance
of reality, reserving the most careful finish for those portions of the picture
intended to attract the eye of the spectator. The apparent want of import-
ance in some of the objects forming the foreground in the natural scene,
and the continual motion of others, cause the student to pass them over as
unworthy of notice; yet, in his after-attempts to form pictures, there is
scarcely any question suggesting itself more frequently than, “ What shall I
put in the foreground ? ” Perhaps a few notes of actual conversations with
an intelligent pupil on some of these occasions would show more vividly the
difficulties felt and the manner of overcoming them ; the student might
then understand that paintings by our best artists are not so much com-
FOREGROUNDS.
175
positions made at home as they are the results of careful studies and
selections made at fortunate moments abroad. Thus they illustrate with
great force the advantage of having’ the eye and attention trained to a
close observance of nature.
Notes. — Loch Duich : Heavy shower ; Interior of a Hovel.
Pupil. “This interruption is very vexatious, for I had nearly finished my
sketch ; and although some lines of the mountains were not fortunate in their
arrangement, and there was no foreground hut a dismal peat-hog, that old castle,
with the lake and mountains, would have made a good subject.”
Master. “ While we wait, could we not draw these old peat-baskets, spades, and
harrows, which lie on the ground % Afterwards we will fill one of the baskets with
fern, and hang it up in the position it would occupy on a girl’s back : careful
studies of these will he useful accessories for our figures and foregrounds.
“ The shower over, remark how a portion of it yet falling hangs like a filmy
veil over those lines of the mountains you wished to hide. What light and breadth
it gives to the distance ! What shadow to the middle of your picture ! Take
your brush, and put in that effect before it passes away ; add notes of the evanescent
effect in writing. See, the peasants are again at work digging peats, and some
kilted urchins have brought an old white horse and sledge to take them home.
Make a large and careful drawing of the horse and sledge. Good : these three
hours have been well spent ; and you now possess a correct study from which to
paint when at home. Look, the sledge is loaded ; some of the children sit half
buried in the fern — a girl, with golden hair, dressed in a light pink jacket and
maroon petticoat, is putting another on the top. Quick : take your note-book —
sketch that action : the position once seized in real action, you can either place her
in it again or get a model at home. Now a bright gleam of the setting sun gilds
the whole group ; how the local colours disappear under its powerful influence !
Take a brush, white, and colour ; dash in the general effect of those tints ; note how
prominent all the flesh tones are — the whole in perfect harmony, and would still
have been so, although the colours of the dresses had all been crude, so immeasur-
ably superior is sunlight to local colour. All the prominent parts are lit up with
the sun, reminding us of the advice of our old friend, ‘ Always dig in with cool,
and bring out with warm colours’. ”
“ My sketch is finished, and it is a picture ! ”
“ Yes, you have now a careful study, made under the usual daylight, and a
memorandum of effect and colour. Remark, too, that agreeable and popular pictures
are more the result of this prompt attention to accidental circumstances and effects
than of a laborious heaping together of all the finest objects in the world. You
admire Landseer’s ‘ Forester’s Family,’ or some of Taylor’s Highland lassies bringing
176
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
home fern or tending sheep. Had these artists not possessed an eye to note as well
as a ready pencil to sketch such incidents, they would not have remained as
pictures to enchant the world/’
As an instance of the way in which an uneducated eye passes over what
constitutes a foreground, another extract is given. Castle Donan, Loch
Duich Ferry.
“ This is a charming little subject ; let us sit down on this mass of rock, and
draw it before we cross.”
“ My sketch is finished, but I can see nothing for the foreground ; the water of
the lake is all gray, with a ripple on it preventing reflection.”
“ Your sketch of the castle and distant mountains is very good ; let us wait a
little. Ah, the wind has fallen : the reflections of the castle, rocks, and deep-
toned trees, are now distinctly seen, repeating the various forms and colours, at the
same time hiding the parallel lines at their base, and blending both reality and re-
flection in that mystical obscurity that adds such a charm to this mountain scenery.
In the water at our feet, the dark ruins of the old castle and trees contrast beautifully
with the light reflected from the bright cloud ; the ripples on the shore give an
additional effect. Now the ferry-boat crosses with an old white horse, two cows,
and one or two rustic figures. See, they are about to fasten it to the rock on which
we sit. Let- us retire a few steps, and include the whole group in our sketch.
Notice the fine citrine and maroon colour of the sea-weeds and rocks ; put in that
light sail as it passes the point on which the castle stands — it comes in well there :
add one or two of those white sea-birds ; we have the power of placing these
movable objects where we please, provided their position is natural.”
“ Why, I find I have a beautiful and appropriate foreground, without any other
trouble than that of observing what occurs around me.”
If, instead of a paucity of objects in the foreground, there appears a
redundancy of form, accompanied with great intricacy of lines, it is well to
begin with those of the most importance ; such, for instance, as the ruts of
a road or the largest mass of rock or stone, with bushes or a group of weeds
attached to it : these having been secured, other forms of less importance
may be added, so as not to interfere with those already drawn.
As foregrounds constitute much of the interest of pictures, and are in
many cases the principal points of attraction, it is worth while to examine
with some care the way in which they are handled. There should, in the
first place, be great solidity and firmness, accompanied with variety of
FOREGROUNDS.
texture and surface, in all rocks, stones, and broken ground. In oil-painting,
and in the impasto style lately used with great effect and power, this is
produced with comparative ease by the numerous processes at command ;
for instance, by loading on solid masses of pigments ; by using the pallet
knife to produce a crisp edge and a flat smooth surface, suddenly changing
into another surface at a different angle; by thickly impasting on the
pigments with large quantities of wax or other myguilphs, and dabbing,
stubbing, or dragging a short bristly brush on them either when wet or half
dry, or we may cause the hairs of the brush to separate by pressing it up-
wards or downwards (while in this condition for grass) ; in fact, using all our
power of handling and the most varied tools with solid pigments, and after-
wards by glazing with transparent pigments, aided by an equally varied
assortment of vehicles, and with the power of taking away that portion of
the glazing which lies on the prominent parts, leaving it in the interstices
to give relief and depth. By the use of all these processes, and many more,
stigmatised by some as tricks of art, but which, when employed with due
subservience to the higher qualities, are exceedingly useful, oil-painters, and
those who use the impasto style, are enabled to bring in high relief that
part of the picture near the eye, and cause the more distant part to recede.
The water-colour painter, however, must arrive at the same result with
different materials ; he must apply all the first washes and tints flatly, but
with decision, so that the edges look almost too hard ; in the succeeding
tints, forms, and shadows, he will use a dryer brush, and change the
pigment on the tip or point of it frequently, taking care that these changes
of colour and these markings do not interfere with the general effect. He
must avail himself of the various processes described before, to take out
a portion or all of the colour from certain parts, and leave the form convex ;
he has a sufficient choice of rich glazing pigments to subdue any colour
that may chance to be left too bright ; and as a last resource, he may use
Chinese white, adding to it the colour he requires, or glazing it down
afterwards with gum and transparent pigments.
All these means are sometimes insufficient to overcome a thinness, or
want of solidity, in our attempts to represent surfaces near the eye. To
obviate this in some measure, a change in the texture of the paper, from fine
N
178
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
in the sky to coarse in the foreground, has been described in Chapter II.
Section III. Vigour and boldness in laying on the first tints, notwith-
standing a certain degree of harshness or angularity it may occasion, will
be of essential service in producing firmness ; these tints form a good
foundation for the various processes of dragging, glazing, rubbing, scraping,
or scumbling, which follow, — for the outside form must be given with
decision, and breadth is produced with a full brush ; it also gives the
opportunity of varying the tones while wet. Over these first tints the
secondary or intermediate touches are placed, the colour being continually
changed by taking up different pigments with the point of the brush, or by
allowing the hairs of the brush to separate, and producing variety with
cooler or warmer colours. When the general form and tones have been
given, and a certain degree of breadth obtained, it will be necessary to
resort to the practice of taking out some of the lighter leaves by first
touching their shapes in with water, and then rubbing them off briskly with
the painting-cloth. To take out these with sharpness, the wetting must be
repeated once or twice ; and when the water is absorbed with blotting-paper,
they must be rubbed out sharply with the cloth or india-rubber ; if too
light or cold, warmer tones may be added. By glazing in this way, warm
lights and reflection can be given with great truth.
The greatest darks must next be introduced, either by dragging the
brush sideways, loaded with different colours, or dappling in those of a deep,
rich, and pure tone, — thus producing an appearance of intricacy and trans-
parency not attainable by any endeavours to put them in by one blot of
colour. When a clearly defined form is desired, it may be cut or scraped
out with a sharp knife ; and if the paper be rough and thick, additional
texture will be produced by scraping off those portions of the tint on the
eminences, and afterwards toning down the light parts. In all such mani-
pulations, there is abundant room for showing dexterity ; brilliancy must
be preserved without gaudiness, sharpness and firmness of lines without
mechanical hardness : always keeping in view the necessity for transparency
in the shadows and opacity in the lights, and throughout recollecting to
preserve the general arrangement of colour and breadth of effect. In giving
variety of colour and form to foregrounds, as well as bringing that portion
FOREGROUNDS.
179
of the picture into closer proximity to the spectator, there is no division of
nature more effective than vegetation ; and whether, viewing it collectively,
we try to represent its general hue and the effect it has on the colour of the
picture, or, taking one particular plant, or group of plants, draw it with that
fidelity and attention calculated to attract the eye, it deserves our most
careful notice. With the desire of preventing the loss of time which would
result from an indiscriminate and laborious study of plants, and also to indi-
cate to students in art the difference between the labours of artists and those
of botanists, a few remarks on this portion of landscape study will be added.
Vegetation must be viewed, not only as giving variety of form and distinct-
ness to the near part of the picture, but as it affects the whole colour of the
landscape. There are many plants insignificant in themselves, which become
of great value to the painter when associated in large numbers and gene-
rally diffused. Under these circumstances they are of great importance,
not only affecting the tone of the whole picture, but also indicating the
season of the year. The first in consequence, and one almost universal in
nature, is common grass, regarding it generally, and without dividing it
into the various species ; it is, therefore, more or less introduced into nearly
every picture. The student must be careful not to scatter it at random
over the foreground of his drawing, but in the first place indicate the sur-
face of the ground on which it grows, correctly delineating the various little
hillocks, and selecting those lines which, by leading the eye into the picture,
aid the perspective. Blades relieving from the surface beyond, whether by
light from dark, or the contrary, require notice. In general, these blades
are either straight, or slightly curved lines, pointing in different directions,
some being more distinctly marked than others. When in light, the strokes
indicating them will be firmer than the rest ; when in shadow, they may be
allowed to vanish into indistinctness.
The next in importance are the heaths, abounding on the uncultivated
barren moors and mountains of Scotland, and found also in smaller quanti-
ties in many parts of England, These give to the distant landscape that
endless variety of russet, purple, and roseate hues which add such glowing
charms to the view. Eerns also give a wild luxuriance both to forest and
heaths ; their form is so exceedingly graceful, that they deserve to be
n 2
180
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
finished with great care when near the eye ; and, growing closely together,
they also present large masses of colour, differing much from that surround-
ing them. There are many other plants conspicuous from their size,
marked character, and general distribution over the country. One of the
best known is the burdock ; it is particularly useful to the artist, and forms
one of his boldest and simplest foreground plants. Another is the coltsfoot,
more attached to the borders of streams, which, when grouped with the
water-dock, with its deep and rich-coloured blossoms, or the meadow-sweet,
with lemon-tinted and clustered head, affords a pleasing variety of colour as
well as form, and contrasts well with the repose of the water beyond. In
the hedge-rows and ditches the teazel and foxglove will at once be recognised
as possessing character, size, and colour, and therefore requiring a corre-
sponding degree of attention. It is necessary to remark, that the intro-
duction of all these plants into the foreground of pictures must appear quite
easy and natural. Some kind of confusion may be allowed in objects which
are thrown, or are growing, accidentally together ; but breadth and sim-
plicity must be observed, that the eye may not. be disturbed by too many
forms of the same size and distance from the spectator. With all the
variety of outline and colour which plants, combined with rocks and
broken ground, afford, the student will find that the foreground becomes
a most interesting part of his picture. He will, however, . look upon it
only as a portion, and see that it is not divided from the rest by too sudden
an alteration in colour, light and shade, or treatment. The parts must all
combine to form an harmonious whole, each securing to itself that amount
of interest to which it is entitled from the position it holds in the picture.
BUILDINGS, RUINS.
SECTION IV.— BUILDINGS, RUINS, etc.
LTHOUGH
the Land-
scape-painter may, in most in-
stances, dispense with the strict
rules of architecture, yet it is
highly requisite that he should
study with some degree of at-
tention the style and character
of the buildings which he may
have occasion to introduce into
his pictures. Generally speak-
ing, they will either be rustic
or in the condition of ruins-
The former, being for the most
part irregular in their appearance, and offering little of architectural beauty,
chiefly interest us by the association of ideas conveyed to our mind, and the
variety both of form and colour presented to our view ; the latter, frequently
including portions displaying great elegance of design, give rise to senti-
ments of a far more elevated character : in either case, an accurate know-
ledge of perspective will be found indispensable to their truthful repre-
sentation. This knowledge will enable the student to give to the various
forms reality , even though they may be half destroyed by time, or partially
182
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
concealed beneath ivy, stones, and grass : it will impart that firmness of
hand and decision of touch calculated to prevent the detached portions from
deviating too much from the original direction ; and it will thus leave the
student free to add the colour and light and shade with a bold and vigorous
brush, to draw the whole without interruption, and to prevent any of the
parts from appearing either too new, too formal, or too architectural in their
outline.
Looking at rustic buildings in an artistic point of view with regard to
the effect they may have on the composition, we find that an irregular form
and plan is as much to be desired in these as a correct and architectural
completeness in the houses forming part of a town or city. This irregu-
larity, however, is most picturesque when it is the result of time or acci-
dent ; a similar observation being equally applicable to their colour. For
example, it is seldom that a single white cottage of regular outline forms an
object of interest ; and even when such buildings are repeated in groups or
scattered about the picture, they by no means contribute to the beauty of
the scene ; but when we see some quaint old farmhouse, built of rough
stone, with its antique gable-ends and towering chimneys of fantastic shape,
its roof formed partly of thatch and partly of tiles, the outbuildings strag-
gling around, and widely-spreading walnut-trees overshadowing portions of
the house, we at once pronounce the whole picturesque : time has varied
the form and mellowed the colour, and thus connected it with the surround-
ing landscape.
Many old castles and gateways scattered throughout our land are
divided in character, uniting much of the beauty of the rustic farmhouse
with the grandeur of outline appertaining to the Norman ruin ; these, how
degraded soever they may be by the uses to which they have been applied,
and incongruous as they may appear from additions intended to convert
them into dwellings for the peasantry, still rank among the most pleasing
of our subjects : such are Allington Castle, near Maidstone ; Carisbrook
gateway, and portions of Conway Castle. Of ruins less dilapidated in their
foim, and more elevated in their style of architecture, we have some fine
examples in Yale Crusis, at the head of this section ; also Bolton, Tintern,
Netley, and Melrose Abbeys, with Kenilworth and Warwick Castles.
BUILDINGS, RUINS.
183
Fortunately our country abounds in these venerable remains of eccle-
siastical and baronial structures ; and happy is it for the landscape-artist
when the owners, gifted with that refined taste which alone can appreciate
their beauties, in taking means to prevent their falling into decay, are
careful so to preserve their character as not to interfere with the sentiment
usually attached to them as ancient ruins. Price, in his work on the
“ Picturesque,” alludes to the false taste of those who level all the inequali-
ties of ground about a ruin with the view of connecting it with their modern
houses, or so-styled improvements. He says : “ Fountains Abbey I never
saw, but have* heard too much of the alterations, which luckily were not
quite completed. There is, however, an ancient castle which I have seen
since that boasted improvement took place of making it stand in the lawn.
The lawn has so entirely subdued and degraded the building, that had I not
known it was really an ancient castle, I might have mistaken it for a modern
ruin. Nor at a distance would the real size have undeceived me ; for the
old foss having been filled up, and the surface levelled and smoothed to the
very foot of the building, the whole had acquired a character of littleness,
as well as of bareness, from the flat naked ground about it.
“ By filling up the fosses of a castle, its character as a castle is greatly
destroyed ; by removing the trees and brushwood, and levelling and smooth-
ing the rough irregular ground, its effect to the painter, and its character as
a ruin, are no less injured. What a system of improvement must that be
which universally destroys character and creates monotony !
“I lately observed the same effect produced by the same cause on
natural masses of stone in a walk near Matlock. The walk led towards
the principal feature, the rock, which I had been greatly struck with from
below, and was eager to get a nearer view of. On approaching it, I hardly
could believe it was the same ; but did not immediately conceive the cause
of my disappointment. I had allowed for the bad effect, in such a scene, of a
gravel walk, with regular sweeps and borders ; but, besides that, the ground
had been cleared, levelled, and turfed from the edge of the walk to the
foot of the rock and round it, into all its hollows and recesses. Though
an immense mass of stone, it hardly appeared natural ; but seemed rather
as if it had somehow been brought and erected at an enormous expense
184
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
in a spot which, as far as the improvements extended, was so little suited to
its character.”
It is the artificial effect produced by this want of taste that is so objec-
tionable ; the painter is content to see the ruin as left by the hand of Time,
without even requiring the appearance of those details so interesting to the
antiquary : to the former, should the ruin occupy a site which, from natural
causes, it might be expected to fill, it is all-sufficient. The architect is
anxious to preserve all the details of his edifice ; the artist prefers hiding
much of the repetition of form by ivy, bushes, or trees. Trees, indeed,
form the most delightful association with ruins ; their rounded shapes, the
variety produced by their colour, and the relief the last-mentioned property
affords the eye, occasion their frequent introduction into such scenes.
Quoting again from Price: “Painters not only represent trees accom-
panying ruins, but almost in contact with splendid buildings in their perfect
and entire state. Such an accompaniment adds still greater variety and
beauty to the most beautiful and varied architecture, and by partial con-
cealment they can give an interest almost to any building, however formal
and ugly. . . . In regard to their being obstructions, or considered as
such, that will partly depend upon the judgment with which they are placed,
and partly upon the owner’s turn of mind.
“ Whoever prefers, in all cases, a mere prospect (and in that light every
unbroken view may be looked upon) to a prospect of which the accompani-
ments had been, or seemed to have been, arranged by a great painter, will
think every thing an obstruction that prevents his seeing all that it is pos-
sible to see in all directions. But he who is convinced that painters, from
having most studied them, are the best judges of the combinations and
effects of visible objects, will only look upon that as an obstruction which,
if taken away, would not merely let in more of the view, but admit it in a
happier manner in point of composition ; and whoever has felt the extreme
difference between seeing distant objects, as in a panorama, without any
foreground, and viewing them under the boughs, and divided by the stems
of trees, with some parts half discovered through the branches and foliage,
will be loth to cut down an old tree which produces such effects, and no less
desirous of creating those effects by planting.”
ansmmri fannoxss m sra^raiBS.
PLATE IS.
BUILDINGS, RUINS.
185
The colour of buildings has next to be considered ; and this, of course,
varies with the materials of which they are built, from the light and broken
yellow of stone to the deep red and brown of bricks and tiles. The warm
gray, varied by broken colours of still greater warmth, is very agreeable
when contrasted with the deep greens of the surrounding trees ; sometimes
also the richer tones of the sandstones have an equally good effect.
In ruins, those greenish-yellow tones, the result of damp, may be intro-
duced with effect ; but in representing inhabited houses they should if
possible be avoided, as they give an appearance of unhealthiness or stagna-
tion, which has at all times a tendency to excite very disagreeable sensations
in the mind.
The mode of handling the brush and materials should be vigorous and
firm ; and as this description of study is that in which the pupil should
make his earliest efforts in colour, two examples are given in Plate 15,
which, with the addition of the russets and warm tones in Plate 13, will
serve to explain the colours employed.
A careful outline having been made of some rustic shed, such as is
represented in Pig. 1, Plate 15 (a view among the slaty rocks of North
Wales), the brush is filled with a warm gray tint of the middle degree of
strength, that is, neither the extreme dark nor the brightest colour. With
this tint the general tone is given with a deliberate and yet firm touch,
leaving all the edges of the different tints of the right form ; thus producing
at once the shapes and divisions of the rocks and stones, and leaving the
sparkling lights to be afterwards toned down by the use of some more
decided colour. In this way the drawing of all secondary lines is made
without any previous outline of each particular tile or stone. It is an
important point that the pupil should effect this with a firm and full
brush, as he will thus avoid that feeble, hesitating manner, the result of
timidly filling up a previous outline. The colour is then changed, either
by washing the brush or taking another charged with portions of rich
warm burnt sienna, yellow ochre, &c. ; and the sparkling lights left
appear to be parts of the mortar, new tiles, &c. patched in. Lastly, the
deeper tones and cast shadows are put in, and the brush dragged over
some portions with slightly varied glazings of grays or greenish tones.
186
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Should the distant edge of the roof be too hard, it may be subdued by
touching it with a little water, and rubbing it off with the painting-cloth.
In all these foreground parts of the picture, much of the brilliancy and
richness of the effect result from the first firm and decided touches com-
bining with slight yet constant changes of pure colour on the point of the
brush, and the blending these together by the process of dragging the
colours over the various parts. Fig. 2 is another example of this kind of
handling ; the colours of the roofs, being richer and deeper in tone, contrast
well with the warm green of the elder bushes about them. Perhaps these
elementary examples are scarcely so simple and broad in their treatment as
the first blottings-in of a water-colour drawing ; but as in colour-printing
all the colours and vehicles are not so transparent as in water-colours, some
allowance must be made. Afterwards the richer and deeper tones are
added, the lights remaining the same, but by contrast appearing much
brighter. After this simple example, the student should select some old
decayed roof, greatly altered in form and colour by age and weather.
Many such are still to be found : one, of which we give a description, was
near Fairlight, Hastings ; an old red-tiled roof, but much varied by yellow
and gray lichens, which were disposed with reference to the hollows formed
by the sinking in of the roof between the timbers. In drawing with the
pencil, these hollows are frequently marked with greater force, and thus the
indication of the gradual settling of the roof given. In this instance the
vivid yellow and gray lichens attract the attention first ; but it would be
better to commence with the dull red and subdued gray of the original tiles,
leaving the lights pure paper. The pigments used might be Indian red or
brown madder and indigo for the red tiles ; then cobalt and a little black
on the tip of the brush, with the remains of the first tint — and with these
varieties of the graver colours secure the forms, and draw the disposition
and bends of the ridges and tiles of the house towards the eaves ; and lastly,
when these tints are dry, take brown pink, with Indian yellow or gamboge,
for the mosses, tinging them in spots with purple lake or madder : for the
most brilliant lichens, chrome, Naples yellow, and lemon yellow, will be
found not at all too brilliant, if the building be near at hand and in
the sun.
BUILDINGS, RUINS.
187
To assist the pupil in his reference to Plate 13, a few of the most useful
mixtures of pigments are added, remarking that much positive colour is not
desirable in buildings ; on the contrary, they are more agreeable to the eye
when their tones are neutral in character, or at times slightly varied by
those of warm russet or grays. Even the red of tiles and bricks, though
affording in reality as pleasing a contrast to the green of vegetation as the
red dress of a figure, is not easily introduced ; red, however, when broken
in tone by time, or introduced in detached mosaic work, as in some of the
buildings in Venice, is very harmonious.
The tones of buildings in limestone and other light-coloured stones may
be imitated with yellow ochre , yellow ochre and brown madder , yellow ochre
and sepia, brown madder and indigo, and black, according to the degree of
coldness required. Eaw sienna, used instead of yellow ochre, produces more
of a transparent tone, accompanied with a slight inclination to greenness.
(See Plate 13, Figs. 15 and 21.)
For stone of a deeper colour — such as granite, slate, &c. — or other stone
in shadow, light red , Indian red , or brown madder, with sepia, indigo, or
black; for cooler tones, Vandyke brown or sepia , with indigo or French
blue ; the same, with the addition of a little lake, or purple madder, to give
a slight increase of. warmth. Bricks and tiles are rarely painted of the
colour they actually appear when new and close at hand ; but as seen when
either mellowed by age, and the tones produced by various mosses or lichens
constantly growing on them, or deepened by smoke and patched with dif-
ferent colours. In this state they become picturesque. Their colours in
light are chiefly founded on mixtures of burnt sienna, with yellow ochre or
Indian yellow, brown madder, light red , sepia, &c. (See 16, 17, 22, and 23.)
In shadow, the colours selected should partake of the rich warm grays — such
as burnt sienna and Vandyke brown, brown madder or purple madder, with
indigo or French blue, brown madder , and yellow ochre with black.
It must be borne in mind that a similar firmness in the handling, and a
proportionate degree of purity in the tints, must be used on buildings in
the middle distance. The colours selected may not be so strong, and may
partake more of the gray ; but the edges are to be equally defined, clear,
and pure — not made with lines, but formed by the edges of tints. Suppose
188
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the student is sketching the ruins of Kenilworth from the Tiltyard, about
a quarter of a mile distant : part of the old walls, being built of a grayer
stone, and placed at a different angle, require cooler colours. Take up
indigo and brown madder , changing the tint a little lower down by dip-
ping the point of the brush into sepia instead of indigo : the edges of the
tints should show the form at once without re-touching. In the light parts
of the ruins yellow ochre and raw sienna are the principal pigments used,
varied by burnt sienna and brown madder. Sometimes, where the stone is
of a deeper gray, use indigo and brown madder or sepia : the tints are not
passed over each other, but have a firm determined edge, however delicate
they may be.
The colour of wood composing buildings, when not painted, is generally
inclined to gray ; but it should differ as much as possible from the grays of
the air or distance. It is well to avoid in their formation the use of cobalt
blue, as it produces thinness. French blue and indigo may be now and
then used without this undesirable quality.
Wood in light may be imitated by mixtures of yellow ochre , with sepia
or indigo or black. A little Chinese white added to this kind of gray
gives it opacity : light red or Indian red and indigo ; Vandyke brown or
sepia > with indigo or French blue ; burnt sienna or brown madder , with
French blue , are also useful mixtures. Sometimes in shadows these colours
may be varied, and more warmth and transparency given by delicate glazings
of raw sienna , or brown pink ; or a portion may be rubbed off, and a warm
glazing added instead.
Thatch partakes of the colour of straw, deepened by time ; it may be
given by yellow ochre and brown madder , raw sienna and purple madder ,
yellow ochre and sepia , or indigo and brown madder , or crimson lake.
ROCKS.
189
SECTION V.— ROCKS AND WATER.
often consti-
tute, either in large masses or broken fragments, a
great proportion of the picture nearest the specta-
tor ; the study of their forms and structure, therefore,
is intimately connected with that of foregrounds,
skeiwith. Force. Careful examination and copying from nature will
be the best means for acquiring truth in their delineation ; but a few cursory
remarks on their general appearance and the nature of their formation will
perhaps assist the student in giving fidelity to his sketches. Leaving, there-
fore, the more minute details of their character to the geologist, to whose
province they more properly belong, we proceed to notice certain points
affecting the pictorial appearance of rocks requiring to be rendered with
especial care, seeing that no painting can be correct unless it presents them
forcibly to view.
As, in giving directions for drawing trees, we advised the student to
make himself acquainted with the particular touch required to represent the
different species, so, in studying rocks, we would call his attention to the
fact, that his progress will be much accelerated by his being aware of the
lines and forms to be employed in depicting their various formations, and
of the general colour that they present both when recently exposed and
when altered by the action of the weather, the growth of vegetation peculiar
to each kind, or by any other circumstance affecting their appearance.
190
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
The student who, ignorant of the collateral branches of his art, would
nevertheless aim at pictorial representation, may be likened to a person who,
indifferently acquainted with short-hand, should yet attempt to report a
speech ; for as the latter would be obliged to pause at each word to recollect
the characters necessary to form it, and thus lose the spirit of the oration,
so the former, while stopping to search for the means of effect, would fail to
catch the fleeting beauties of the landscape.
Perhaps there are no circumstances under which rocks can be more
effectively studied than when their surface has been laid bare by the action
of water in one or more of its various forms ; as, for instance, that of
waves impelled by the ever-varying forces of the wind against the cliffs of a
sea-bound shore, or of the more uniform rush of the foaming torrent as it
sweeps down the mountain’s side. Deprived of their covering of earth and
vegetation, varieties in the formation of different rocks become more conspi-
cuous, and the peculiarities of each description can be carefully observed.
Mr. Twining says, “ It is chiefly with reference to stratification that a large
portion of rocks obtain marked and decided characters. This very general
condition presents itself under the greatest variety of forms, whether it be
in the magnitude, the disposition, or the distinctness of the stratified beds.
At times the layers appear on so reduced a scale as to become objects of
detail in the bank or broken fragments which form the foreground of a
picture. Elsewhere they are so large that they are visible to the eye on a
distant mountain, and influence its character, and to some extent its form ;
the connection being in many cases easily traced between the dip of the
strata and the inclination of the mountain’s slope or ridge. Thus, when
the red sandstone forms the covering of mountains of a different formation,
one remarks that they have flattened summits, which form inclined terraces,
bordered by deep precipices. The slope of these terraces is always parallel
with the strata of the red sandstone and with the slope of the formation on
which they rest.”
Landslips and great falls of earth afford also good opportunities for the
study of the strata and their covering of vegetation, wherever huge blocks
or fragments retain the position and form which they assumed when broken
by the violence of the concussion. Whoever has passed a day among the
ROCKS.
191
melancholy ruins of the Eossberg, and remarked the massive fragments and
extraordinary positions of the conglomerate rocks, will at once perceive how
different is their present appearance from what it was when they formed a
part of the sloping sides of the mountain. Another landslip, caused by the
undermining effects of water, is seen in the valley of Meyringen; and in this
the strata are waved and contorted into a great variety of forms. Again,
an excellent opportunity for study is presented by the fall of large masses of
the red sandstone cliffs in the neighbourhood of Loch Eanza, Isle of Arran ;
and the author must be permitted to add, that, for the study of geology
combined with picturesque beauty, that island affords most abundant sources
of interest.
In road-side cuttings, quarries, or excavations, the artist will also find
innumerable opportunities for examining the strata, and giving a few lines
in the foreground with decision and truth • and even where rocks are broken
down into debris, he will still be able, by referring to their original colours,
to give the prevailing tone of the whole mass.
The study of rocks thus exposed will enable the student to decide upon
the original position of the fragments so frequently found lying in the fore-
ground, the nature of the rock of which they formed part, and consequently
to indicate the direction of the lines of their stratification, even when not at
once evident ; whereas, without an acquaintance with their structure, he
might be confused by their being strewn here and there by some convulsion
of nature far from the spot where they were originally placed.
The young artist must give careful attention to this particular portion of
his study ; and he may be assured that by so doing he will be amply repaid
for his labour. It merely requires those general habits of observation and
industry which every one ought to possess ; and from these objects present-
ing firmness of outline and decision of character, accompanied by that valu-
able quality of remaining unchanged either in form or colour, in the course
of his practice he will gain continual accessions of power, and qualify himself
to attempt those parts of the picture which, like trees, water, and clouds,
require the facility of generalising forms and colour, at the same time com-
bined with increased ability in the execution.
Artists as well as amateurs are too much in the habit of boasting of the
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
short time which their studies have cost them. In first attempts, the ques-
tion of time ought not to come into consideration, the quality of the work
when complete being all-important. The author, while yet a tyro, being
engaged in company with Stanfield, and other artists, in taking a sketch of
the East Cliff, Hastings, well recollects that his own study was finished in
three hours ; that of Stanfield occupied seven. The result, as the reader
may suppose, neither ministered to the vanity of the younger artist, nor
added to his progress so much as it should have done.
Some rocks afford the artist more opportunities of showing their struc-
ture than others ; and, owing to this pr6minence of character, they seem to
require a corresponding accuracy and system in their delineation. Such
are the slate and schistose rocks, which present forms more angular and
stratification more strongly developed than many others : they may be
studied with great ease about the bed of the Conway and other streams in
North Wales. It must be remarked, that rocks of this kind, viewed from
different directions, appear under totally different characters ; one side pre-
senting a broad, even, and unbroken surface, the other divided into innu-
merable layers and lines. Although the colour of these rocks always verges
on the cool gray, and the nature of the stratification produces many parallel
lines, they are nevertheless very beautiful. In practice of this kind, it will
be seen how constantly an artist’s thoughts ought to be engaged on his
work. On examining rocks subjected to the action of torrents, he will
generally find their surfaces rounded off or convex ; but when situated so
that an eddy is formed, concavities, and even in some instances circular
holes, can be observed, — the latter caused by the water continually whirling
round small fragments, some of which may be found still remaining at the
bottom. The colour is likewise subject to alterations, being greatly affected
by the alternation of drought and moisture, and the consequent variety in
the growth of lichens, mosses, or plants.
Granite is usually to be distinguished by the massive squareness of
its forms ; though when in positions where it has been exposed for a
length of time to the action of the elements, it presents a smooth and
rounded appearance. Its character of durability, and its imperishable
nature, are well shown in the rocks towering above the Mer de Glace, called
ROCKS.
193
Les Aiguilles ; it is seen under a different form, but equally durable, in the
huge boulders and tors on Dartmoor. Hard as it is in texture, it has been
subject, in ages long past, to alterations of form occasioned by slips and
fissures, which have thrown whole masses out of their original position.
These changes call for careful attention on the part of the student, other-
wise he may, by making these accidents too prominent, give a false idea of
the general direction of the strata. Again, there is this peculiarity in the
colour of granite,— one kind is a cool, another a warm gray : both, however
are produced by small spots of colour, differing in degrees of purity and,
tone, sprinkled together ; viewed at a distance, the tints appear blended into
one homogeneous tone. Both varieties may be seen together in the coping-
stones and balustrade of Waterloo Bridge. The prevailing tone of granite
is, however, greatly varied by the different coloured mosses and lichens
growing on it, more particularly in those situations where it is subject to
moisture, and partially sheltered.
Limestone presents more variety of form and colour than most rocks ; it
changes much by exposure to the weather, having at first a cool gray tone,
but afterwards becoming much warmer and richer. By its varied and sunny
hues, it greatly enhances the beauty of the landscape, whether introduced
in the natural state- of cliffs and rocks, or in the artificial form of ruins. It
is much affected by the action of water, which causes stains and marks to
extend to great distances, either in a vertical or horizontal direction ; these
discolorations, passing over irregular surfaces, joined to the lights and sha-
dows of unequal intensity, give many opportunities for truthfully portraying
its character. The marble limestone of North Devonshire and Dorsetshire
has sometimes a very extraordinary waved and streaked appearance. Turner,
in his drawing of “Lulworth Cove,” has given a fine example of this
formation, beautifully rendered in line-engraving by Cooke. Other plates
of this great artist's “ Southern Coasts ” afford good opportunities for
observing how careful he was in his drawings of cliffs and rocks. The
student is more particularly referred for studies to those named the “ Isle
of Portland,” “ Tintagel Castle,” and the “ Land’s End.”
The sandstone rocks and cliffs of Hastings are rich in colour, varying
from pale grayish tones, such as might be imitated with yellow ochre and
o
194
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
ivory black, or yellow ochre, a little indigo and crimson lake, to deeper
tones of brown or purple madder, with French blue, varied with raw sienna.
When the detached masses of sandstone rock are wetted with the waves
this latter colour greatly predominates. The shingle on the beach consists
chiefly of debris of the rocks above, slates washed from the rubbish heaps of
the town, flints with scattered scollop and oyster shells. The prevailing
colour, therefore, will be raw sienna, with darker and cooler grays inter-
spersed. As the beach is washed by the advancing tide, the colour is en-
riched and deepened ; but in calm weather a perceptible difference is seen
in the water within a few feet of the extreme edge : it is there rendered
rather more opaque and cooler by innumerable bubbles of air coming up
out of the dry beach ; and these, being carried back a yard or two in small
round patches, contribute to form the foam of the waves. In rough weather,
the air-bubbles are so largely increased by the dash of the waters that these
smaller contributions are unnoticed. Foam produced by the waves of the
sea lasts much longer than when the result of a waterfall ; the colour also
of the former is yellower and richer in tone. The moment when the wave
has been hurled on the beach, and the foam and spray risen to its greatest
height, appears the most favourable to the artist’s study ; he should then
impress its general form and appearance on his memory. In certain parts
of this coast pipeclay washes up, and gives an opacity and muddiness to the
water very different from the appearance produced by the foam.
The chalk formation, although charming in the distant cliff, as in extended
sea- views of our island, is generally too little varied either in form or colour
to be of much use in the fore-part of a picture ; it requires great skill in ar-
ranging both the composition and the masses of light and shade in order to
render pictures containing large portions of it at all agreeable. Other rocks
having dark or heavy colours are quite as difficult to introduce with good
effect ; among such are the red sandstone, with its heavy monotonous tone,
and the deep purply gray and black hypersthene, so overpowering in its
effect on the Cuchullen Hills, in Skye. The depth of these local colours
can best be represented when the mountains are in light, for in shadow the
peculiar tones would not appear so strongly marked.
However, in all these varieties of rocks, the artist must consider what
ROCKS.
195
amount of interest is likely to be imparted to his works by the features of
the different formations which he finds in nature. To copy all the minor
details would be impossible ; he can, in fact, notice only those portions that
give point and character to the scene. With this view, therefore, he must
firmly impress on his mind those characteristics of rocks which owe their
origin to the action of the elements, of the restless sea, or the gushing
stream. All these points, when copied with truth, contribute to the charm
of the picture, the chief interest of which must eventually consist in that
union of beauty and simplicity alone suited to the general comprehension.
Although some details of the way in which rocks should be represented
have been given in the notes on Sketching from Nature, yet it will be useful
to the young student to give some additional remarks on the mode of work-
ing this portion of the picture. The character displayed by rocks in general
is most decided ; their angular forms, their distinct and easily recognised
varieties of strata and of colour, combined with much dissimilarity in the
way in which their original colour is affected by exposure to moisture and
the growth of lichens, give us the power of representing them with that
boldness and truth which their nature requires. Solidity, hardness, opacity,
angularity, must be expressed in every line and tint. The materials of the
water-colour painter are, it must be confessed, not the best for this purpose ;
therefore, to compete with the oil-painter in this portion of the picture, and
conquer this deficiency as much as possible, we must carefully select such
substances, and modes of using them, as afford the greatest amount of
power.
The general tone of rocks will be found to be grays of varying qualities,
and, unless illuminated by a very brilliant sun, considerably darker than the
grays of the clouds ; but if these tones are made with the same pigments as
those used for the latter, they will look poor and thin. Instead, then, of
cobalt and the lakes , or cobalt and vermilion or light red , we must take pig-
ments possessing more body and power, not rejecting even such as are semi-
transparent or turbid. With a bold touch and full brush, we should lay on
these first tints all over the masses of rock, to the apparent neglect of the
smaller divisions, and even of the light and shade ; then, to give more variety
and richness to this ground colour, we should repeatedly vary it by taking
o 2
196
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
up other harmonising colours, floating them in while wet. In this way we
may sometimes avoid showing any distinct form or angle, and yet produce
the effect of a curved surface, or a surface having varied quantities of light
or colour.
Let us suppose, for example, that in imitating masses of granite lying
on a desolate moor, such as is depicted in Plate 16, Dartmoor, the general
tone of which is gray, we fill the brush with burnt sienna and indigo , and a
little crimson lake; we may then, without replenishing it with these, take
up brown madder and indigo , which will harmonise with those already used,
and yet give variety of tone. In this way yellow ochre and sepia may he
changed for Vandyke brown and indigo , or brown madder and sepia . These
rich, deep-toned, and variously modulated ground tints afford an excellent
basis for either the warmer transparent colours or those more opaque, as
well as supplying a solid tone from which to take our lights. If any of the
tones of the rocks should be similar to those of the sky or distance, it will
be advisable to change those on the rock by producing variety in the tex-
ture, if not in the colour ; a tone obtained by small portions of pure colour,
mingled or interspersed, separates immediately from a flat tone in the dis-
tance, apparently of the same general hue. This stippling or dappling in of
pure colours, combined with the production of granulation by scraping out
with a razor, and then touching down the lights thus obtained, gives an
entirely different character to the tones ; and by these means the distances
are preserved without resorting to strong oppositions, either of colour or
light and shade.
The first tints of rocks will often appear too dark ; for, being put in
before the loose foliage, grass, or the other tints surrounding them, they
are contrasted with the white paper alone ; but when the shadows of the
trees, &c. are added they appear much lighter. By putting in large
masses of colour with boldness, feebleness and dryness of style are avoided,
the general effect is at once produced, and great breadth is the result. The
shadows and markings should, when the first tint is dry, be done with
transparent colours, sometimes warmer and occasionally cooler than the
first. Thus, over a cool gray rock of Indian red and indigo , tints represent-
ing the moss, or any of the warmer portions, may be laid on, composed of
ie © © !K a, laiESia
/’v-.
/
X
ROCKS.
197
raw sienna and brown madder , or Indian yellow and Vandyke brown , or
brown pink. Care, however, should be taken to avoid blackness and cold-
ness in making these additions. Should the shadowed side appear to want
reflected light, a portion of the first colour may be rubbed off, and some
other warm and transparent or semi-transparent colour added.
All these delicate variations cannot be produced at first, for the result of
such efforts would be only feebleness and thinness. The fissures and mark-
ings are now to be put in, producing firmness and crispness in the outline
more by bringing up one tint with a decided edge against another than by
any strong line, which looks artificial. If these markings, clefts, and fissures
can be introduced, having in them variations of light, shade, and colour, as
well as reflected light, great truth in the detail will be given, the breadth
remaining uninjured. The final.touches, comprising the putting on of light
tones or smaller patches, with ^bbdy colour and some of the warmer pig-
ments ; the rubbing out with water aiid a cloth, or scratching out lights,
and then toning them down either, with opaque or transparent pigments, —
will give richness, variety, and ■ opacity to the surface in light, while the
shadows will be kept transparent and warm.
The effect at which the student must aim will be better understood, if he
will at the commencement, of his study take the trouble of going quite close
to the mass of rock he wishes to represent, and examine well the different
surfaces and tints. He will find that, although the general tone may be
cool or warm gray, inclining to red, purple, green, or yellow, yet it is greatly
modified by masses of rich greenish mosses, dark brown lichens, and even
rendered lighter in parts by brilliant yellow or white lichens in rounded
patches ; in fact, that no considerable portion of the mass is of the same
uniform tint. After this he should complete his examination by retiring
slowly from the object, noticing how the colours are blended and harmonised
together at different distances. The habit of generalising gained by such
practice will be found extremely valuable.
For specimens of mixtures suitable for rocks, the student is referred to
that portion of the table of grays comprising the deeper tints. It may,
however, be mentioned, that indigo , with light red, Indian red ', brown mad-
der, or burnt sienna and lake, produces cool gray tones ; Vandyke brown or
198
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
sepia, with indigo or French blue , grays partaking of the green tones ; for
warmer tones, yellow ochre , light red , and burnt sienna may be mixed with
Indigo or French blue with raw sienna and Vandyke brown for glazing : in
fact, by keeping in mind the difference in opaque and transparent pigments,
most of them can be used, taking care at all times to avoid blackness.
In concluding these remarks on the study of rocks, we may direct the
student’s attention to the forest of Fontainebleau, where he will see fine
trees and rocks combined ; but he must not expect to find the falling streams
or slaty rocks of North Wales, for the rocks are sandstone, and not much
varied in colour ; the soil also being sandy, there is no water : nevertheless
there is much to interest the lover of nature in the fine old monarchs of the
woods and in the wild gorges, the least artificial portions of the forest.
Amongst these, the gorge D’Egremont and Bas Breau appear to present the
most variety of incidents, abounding with picturesque white cliffs and a fine
point de vue, which affords an extensive survey of the surrounding country ;
but in the Yallon des Peintres and Gorge de Neffleurs there are some of the
finest trees in the forest. One of these, with fine scattered masses of rock,
is so well known, and is so great a favourite, that a sketch of it is given in
the accompanying vignette.
Fontainebleau.
WATER.
199
SECTION y. (continued.)— WATER.
N the few brief sentences that can he devoted to this sub-
ject, the most conspicuous of its pictorial attributes only
are indicated, and we must confine our remarks more
especially to those which the artist can hope to imitate
with the greatest probability of success. It is indeed a
charming though difficult part of his study, and some hesi-
tation has doubtless been felt by all who have attempted
either to describe or represent the different qualities or
appearances of water.
Water, under the influence of light and air, presents
effects beautiful in themselves, and truly wonderful from
the endless diversity of forms it can assume. To de-
pict water under some of these conditions would appear at first sight
to offer no difficulty to the landscape-painter; but a careful examination
will prove that great attention is requisite to enable him to represent it
with truth and power. It must be studied under every aspect, — in those
states likely to escape notice when, as mists, clouds, and rain, it becomes
almost part of the atmosphere ; and when, in perfect repose and solitude,
the crystal lake, embosomed amid trees and mountains, reflects surrounding
objects on its glassy surface, and brings as it were the heavens down into
the bosom of the earth, and unites them in one harmonious whole. Again,
when beauty rises into grandeur, and a sensation of sublimity is excited by
the boundless ocean, the type at once of endless space and unceasing motion,
the artist must still in all humility study nature under every phase, gather-
ing inspiration and encouragement even while he feels the immeasurable
superiority of the work of nature to any possible imitation from the hand
of man.
200
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
In commencing the study of water, under that aspect offering the least
difficulty in its representation, — the calm lake or pool, — its most important
peculiarities must he examined : its colour, when pure or tinged by sub-
stances contained in it ; its transparency, reflecting power, — all those quali-
ties, in short, which are shown in degrees of strength varying according to
the constant alteration it undergoes.
Pursuing our study systematically, we find that water, even in its purest
state, causes great changes of colour in all substances over which it either
rests or flows, generally rendering them deeper and richer in tone. The
appearance of it when pure is again varied by the colours of the objects over
which it flows being visible through it ; and when to these variations is
added the fact that its natural colour is liable to be affected by vegetable or
earthy substances contained in it, rendering it more or less yellow, green,
blue, brown, or turbid, according to the nature of the matter held in solution,
with many other influences to be hereafter considered, it is evident that its
study requires no small degree of earnest attention.
A portion of the difficulty of representing water may be overcome by
acquiring the habit of copying it faithfully from nature, with the lights and
colours either belonging to itself or reflected in it, wdiether the latter be of
the sky or of surrounding objects. In order to command success in this,
the laws of reflection should be studied, and the angle of vision in regard to
the surface of the water remarked : thus analysing as it were the different
effects, and noticing the colour of water itself when over some substance
known to be white ; then having examined the colour of substances over
which it is seen, — such as rocks, sand, beds of weeds, &c., — the result of the
additional colour of the water must be observed, and in particular the
student should learn to discriminate and represent with truth the difference
between reflections of colours and lights and shades of the surrounding
objects, — such as mountains, rocks, trees, plants, — and the sharp reflections
on the glassy surface of the lights of the sky or sun. Shadows also require
attentive consideration ; if the water be turbid, they will be readily dis-
tinguished passing away on the surface in a direction opposite to that of the
sun ; but if it be perfectly pure, they will pass through it to the bottom, and
thus become mingled with the colour of the water and reflections. Light
WATER,
201
reflected by objects beneath, in passing through coloured water, is very dif-
ferent from that reflected from the surface ; the latter being generally cool,
like the lights on a polished mirror, while the former is rich and warm, and
may be produced by transparent colours.
The transparency of water is not always easy of representation. If we
are looking down on it when shallow, we can easily perceive and imitate it ;
but on looking along the surface of deep and clear water, it appears at a
first glance more difficult, because the idea must be conveyed that we can
look down to the bottom if we wish, but that without an effort the eye only
passes over the surface. In consequence of this accumulation of difficulties,
we are glad to avail ourselves of all legitimate means to assist in showing
the varied qualities of water : thus boats and other objects floating on it are
very useful, as, when looking under the dark bottom of a boat, we can often
discern the depth of water, or even fish and other objects within it.
The colour of all substances is much altered when seen through water —
those which are light will appear least changed ; again, owing to the portion
of objects reflected being generally underneath and in shadow, while we,
placed above them, see more of the upper part in sunlight, the light and
shade of the reflected parts will appear different from those of the real object
offered to our view : thus trees in light may have their under branches in
shadow reflected, but the upper branches in light will not be so much shown-
Taking into account this alteration of the quantities of the different surfaces
of objects reflected, the student must be aware that the quantity of an object
seen in water will entirely depend on the position of the spectator : thus a
person having his eye near the surface, and looking at a tree or rock on the
margin of a lake, will find the length of its reflection in the smooth water
exactly to correspond with the original object ; the summits of mountains
having their bases hidden will also be reflected at a distance equal to the
height they rise above the line of water at their base : but as the spectator
changes his position, and rises, the reflection is gradually curtailed by the.
hiding of the lower part of the object, until, from such a point of view as
the Riglii Culm, he sees nothing but the sky or clouds reflected in the mirror
at his feet.
The effect of ripples on water is important ; small regular waves lengthen
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the reflection of objects, until, in the case of brilliant lights, — such as the sun,
moon, lamps, &c., — it is conducted to the feet of the spectator ; we must
recollect, therefore, that whenever these long reflections of the moon, &c.,
are introduced, they conduct downwards to the point of station. A ripple
presents two surfaces, and may reflect two different objects or hues : for
example, it may reflect, on the surface turned away from the spectator,
warm light, from the sun setting just opposite ; and on the other surface it
may reflect the cool blue or violet hue of the sky behind. Most beautiful
contrasts are afforded by these reflections, and they always harmonise.
In practice, the treatment of water should follow that of the sky and
clouds; and as it associates much with them in colour, so it should partake
with them of broad flat washes and tints laid on with a full brush, leaving
decided edges of the right form. Softness and obscurity in outline is to be
avoided here, more even than in clouds, as without clear and firm edges,
given with a full brush rather than by a line added afterwards, no trans-
parency will be obtained ; and although in looking at the foam and spray
of waterfalls or cataracts it is not easy to perceive how such broken forms
can be produced by laying on tints with defined edges, a careful examination
will prove that there is no other means by which a good conclusion can be
attained. Suppose, for instance, the student to begin with the first broad
tints which he has to use in representing a smooth expanse of water, they
will most likely be composed of cool indefinite gray tones, at a first glance
appearing much like those of the sky ; but on examining them more care-
fully, it will be found that, except in the brightest reflections and ripples,
they are darker and more of a greenish hue : yet in looking for the general
tone with which to put in these first washes, the colour of the water must
not be taken as it appears close to the spectator’s feet, because that will
partake of the colour of the bottom; for the eye, when looking down on
any lustrous object, sees colours very differently from what it does when
looking along its surface. The first tint should be rather grayer than the
general tone, it will better represent the cool reflected lights of the sky and
clouds ; and when the second and other tints are laid on, these lights will
appear still cooler. The student, by turning to the table of grays, Plate 7,
can make those variations which the greater depth of tone and additional
PLATE 17-
S^'iTJDT WAT!E30
.
WATER.
203
colour, either contained in the water or transmitted through it from reflected
light, requires; thus he may in general substitute raw sienna for yellow
ochre , and brown madder for Indian red. Cobalt may still he used exten-
sively for all the first tones ; but French blue , Prussian blue , and indigo , are
better for tones when near the eye. The following mixtures may be em-
ployed for first washes ; but the tints will of course depend much on the
colour of the sky or clouds above them.
The general tone of water will be best given with raw sienna alone ; or,
if deeper or greener, with brown madder , Vandyke brown , or Indian yellow.
All these tones may be cooled by mixing cobalt blue , French blue , or indigo ;
but if the water be very dark-coloured or in shadow, brown pink, purple
madder , and Vandyke brown can be used. Sea-weed, or other plants under
water, may be painted in with these colours, and glazed with burnt sienna
and indigo , or indigo and lake , or sepia.
When water in motion forms a portion of the landscape, it always pre-
sents great difficulties to those who attempt it without system or order : to
imitate shapes, tints, and colours so continually changing requires a disci-
plined eye and hand ; and for this reason, it should not be attempted until
by repeated efforts the student has acquired the power of remembering the
forms and colours of any object he has once attentively observed. Even
when he has gained this power, he requires considerable knowledge of effect ;
so that, having selected the light and shade from the scene before him at
some fortunate moment, he may not be diverted from the complete picture
impressed on his mind by any subsequent changes occurring in the effect.
To illustrate this mode of study, and lessen difficulties, the author has
drawn, in Plate 17, a wave breaking on some rocks. One wave has just
broken, throwing up large masses of foam and spray. With a rapid but
truthful pencil the horizon, the form of the rock, and the advancing wave,
are indicated. With his brush full of a neutral tint of indigo and Indian
red , or brown madder , but slightly varied as it approaches the near portion
by a little raw sienna, the artist puts in a tint all over the subject, excepting
only the highest lights, which he leaves of the true shape, sharp and clear :
these are few in number, for it must be recollected that extreme lights and
darks are in nature small in proportion to the middle tones. The subject
204
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
will then appear something like Fig. 1 ; a second tint follows, Fig. 2 ;
leaving besides the highest lights many others over which the first has
passed. In this second tint some variety may be introduced without alter-
ing either its breadth of light and shade or general tone. It may be made
with French blue and crimson lake, with a little raw sienna for the distant
water ; but when nearer, indigo and raw sienna, with a little madder, may
be used : the first tint will be the cooler or grayer of the two, as the reflected
lights on the waves are to be left of this tone. The third tint, Fig. 3, adds
the greatest darks, which may be varied in power as well as in colour. On
the under part of the curling wave, they may be made with indigo and raw
sienna, or indigo and Vandyke brown. It will require considerable attention
to give the rocks an appearance of hardness, with rough and broken surfaces ;
tolerably pure colours of the secondary order may be stippled on, and by
being thus intermixed will add to the depth, without blackness. The foam
and spray may be obtained by the process of wetting with a brush some of
the tints, and rubbing out with a cloth or india-rubber ; the more separated
spray must either be scraped out with a razor or sharp penknife, or put on
with opaque white. In using solid white, it must be remembered that it
represents the highest lights only, and on ripples or waves these are gene-
rally mere lines ; if they are put on too broad, the water will no longer look
transparent, but opaque and milky. Students should be careful not to
introduce reflections of objects when, owing to the roughness of the surface,
they would not appear. Waves broken into different surfaces will, of
course, have their reflecting powers much disturbed and diffused ; so that no
distinct form — such as a buoy, a basket, or mast — can in such cases present
an inverted image of itself.
Boats and shipping are most important accessories to marine subjects,
adding great interest and life, while at the same time they assist in indi-
cating the direction and force of the wind. It must be acknowledged diffi-
cult to draw them with the requisite truth, as the least deviation in line, or
fault in perspective, causes a clumsy or heavy appearance, easily detected by
any one accustomed to observe them, and exceedingly annoying to a nautical
man. In his first essays, the student should begin with a boat lying on a
sea-shore, such as is shown in Plate 8 ; the inclination of the keel on the
WATER.
205
beach should first he drawn by a straight line, beginning at the stem or foot
of the bow, and passing through to the stern ; another line parallel to this
may now be drawn through the centre of the boat, beginning at the bow, to
the middle of the stern at the rudder ; with this the seats, or thwarts, will
be at right angles, the rowlocks, pins, or places for the oars, rather before
these. With the aid of these most important points, the whole will be kept
in perspective. The general tone of the outside of boats is a rich brown,
occasioned by the colour of the pitch or other substances with which they
are covered. With Vandyke brown or raw sienna these tones can be imi-
tated very closely. The colour of the inside is generally different, being
painted with opaque colour, and often of a dull red hue, which harmonises
well with the subdued green of the sea.
Sails and rigging of shipping, and nets of boats, require great attention.
In this study, like most others, a few notes made under the instruction of a
practical sailor, on the position and uses of the masts, yards, rigging, and
sails, will lead to the quickest and most correct modes of drawing them ;
they should be represented not only in calms, but when acted upon by strong
winds. Many most beautiful forms and lines are afforded on such occasions
by the sails and ropes, contrasting well with the lines of the horizon and
waves near at hand. The colour of sails, nets, and rigging is also of great
importance, being generally produced by a kind of tanning or dy eing process
with a dark brown infusion, such as catechu, bark, &c. They possess a rich
tone, varying from light gray or yellow, when bleached by wind, rain, and
sun, to the richest burnt sienna , brown madder , or Vandyke brown , when
fresh dyed ; when light-coloured, and in sunlight, they materially assist the
artist in affording opportunities for large masses of light, differing in shape
from the clouds or waves, or contrasting with fine effect against the stormy
sky or deeper coloured sails. Groups of boats, with their sails and nets
hung about them, and baskets, tubs, anchors, &c. lying around, are among
the most agreeable and picturesque of artists’ studies.
How much soever the reflections of objects may be affected by the broken
surface of water, even to their utter obliteration, the colour of the sky,
clouds, &c. above will always materially influence that of the water beneath.
In a cloudless day, with the blue sky reflected, the sea will partake of that
206
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
colour, gradually increasing in depth of tone as it approaches the horizon ;
hut owing probably to refraction, or diminished strength in the colours
and shadows by aerial perspective, it will frequently again become lighter
before it reaches the extreme extent of vision. This change of colour is
also partly occasioned by the greater purity of the water and the position
of the eye with regard to the surface : on looking down on waves at our
feet, we perceive a small portion of warm light transmitted through the
water, and also warm coloured substances, — such as sand, beach, weeds,
&c., — floating in it, so that the foam itself may sometimes appear of a rich
yellowish brown.
Brilliantly illuminated clouds frequently cast long reflections on the sea,
considerably altering the colour ; also, by the same power of reflection,
under a stormy cloud of a deep purplish gray a purple hue is visible on the
sea beneath ; while under a warm glowing cloud in light a yellowish hue
may be seen : the whole, however, must be kept in harmony in the picture.
There are some effects in which we observe that clouds do not impart
their colour to the sea, but appear to create a striking complementary con-
trast ; thus, in the Mediterranean, we have often been surprised at the
intense colour and decided form of an inky blot of shadow on the blue-
green sea, and have found some difficulty in tracing it to an apparently
light filmy cloud over our heads.
When the great varieties of colour observed in the sea are caused either
by reflection, transmitted light, or are the result of clouds immediately over
the part composing the picture, in this case they are easily understood ; but
some of these differences are due to reflections of tones of the sky behind
our backs : thus we have observed, when looking out to sea at Hastings on
a stormy sunset, that a heavy bank of clouds over the sea was tinged with a
delicate purply red from the sun behind us, while the sea beneath the cloud
was in shadow and a decided green, thus forming a very harmonious con-
trast of complementary colours.
Great differences exist between the effect caused by water when finely
divided, as in mists or in larger drops. Mists, fogs, and fine rain obscure
the landscape most ; while heavy rain, in large drops, permits much to be
seen through it. One cause of the admitted want of effect in the great
E B 6HilB!B!Bi!t(CJEI,
PLAT E IS
VALLEY OF LAUTERBRUNNEK. SWITZERLAND
WATER.
207
fountains at the Crystal Palace may be owing to the jets being blown too
much into mists, as well as being repetitions of the same forms and combi-
nations,— not having also the advantage of fine masses of trees as a back-
ground, when they would sometimes relieve light against dark, whereas
now they generally show as a pillar of smoke or steam dark against a light
sky. They seem to require larger and grander treatment, and more
variety.
A waterfall or cataract should be treated with regard to the handling
in a similar way to foam or broken waves. Amid the greatest apparent
confusion of forms and tints, certain shapes will be detected more constantly
repeated than others. These should be secured by tints having firm and
decided edges ; for however unnatural these hard edges appear, they con-
tribute much to the transparency of the whole when finished. Water that
falls over a rock without separation will appear dark in tone, showing some-
thing of the colour belonging to it, and also permitting the dark colour of
the rock to show through ; but when this is admitted behind it imme-
diately appears lighter. When projected at once from a rock or cliff,
water separates into gushes or waves, having the largest mass the most in
advance, and the more transparent portion following. Plate 18 is an attempt
to represent one of the most exquisitely beautiful of waterfalls, “The Staub-
bach but to aid us in noticing its chief beauties, we will quote Cheevers’s
poetical description. “ When seen in the early morning, glancing in the
beams of the sun, just rising over the snowy summits of the Jung Frau and
Silver Horn, while the rest of the valley of Lauterbrunnen still remains in
shadow, it is most lovely. It has well been styled a sky-born waterfall ; for
it springs from off the cliff, and waves about in its descent almost like a bird
of paradise, throwing itself into the air from the brow of the mountain. It
is customary to approach it until it almost appears to fall on the head ; but
its extreme beauty is better seen and felt at a little distance. The eye then
traces its course so long, and its movement is so checked by the resistance
of the air and the roughness of the cliff, that it seems rather to float than to
fall ; and before it reaches the bottom, dances down in ten thousand little
jets of white foam, which all alight together as softly as a white- winged
albatross on the bosom of the ocean. It is as if a million of rockets were
208
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
shot off in one shaft into the air, and then descended together, some of them
breaking at every point in the descent, and all streaming down in a combi-
nation of meteors. So the streams in this fall, where it springs into the air,
separate and hold their own as long as possible ; and then burst into rockets
of foam, dropping down at first heavily, as if determined to reach the ground
unbroken, and then dissolving into showers of mist so gracefully, so beau-
tifully, like snow-dust on the bosom of the air, that it seems like a spiritual
creation rather than a thing inert, material.” After this glowing yet faith-
ful description, it would appear almost hopeless to attempt to depict the
Staubbach ; yet, as it is often sketched by students as well as artists, we will
describe the manner in which the original study, of which Plate 18 is a copy,
was drawn. The outline being done, the first pure wash, consisting of cad-
mium and crimson lake, is carried over the sky, and with the exception of the
snowy peaks and upper part of the fall, may be blotted-in with greater force
over the cliffs ; but as we draw near the base of the fall more gray should
be taken up, composed of indigo and brown madder : these tints, or some-
thing like them, are to be repeated, but gradually more grays should be
introduced, until the whole tone of the rocks and mountains becomes darker
than the sky. The general shape and direction of the water is left by the
stronger tints ; and when these are dry, the waves, with their rocket-like
heads, are drawn with a firm but delicate gray : two or three of these tints,
each, however, having a firm edge, produce more appearance of mist and
spray than many would suppose possible. Where the water is dissipated
into thin spray, the colour of the rocks becomes more visible, the warmer
rock tints being used for stippling-in. Careful use of the scraper and toning
down with pure grays will also add to the indefinite character of the falling
water ; but still it is desirable to retain something of the meteor-like heads,
or waves, as without these it might lose much of the character of a fall.
The most opaque or whitest part of the fall will be as it collects together on
the dark rocks at the base ; the tints about which may be formed with sepia
and indigo , brown madder and indigo , with brown pink in portions. All the
lower part of the picture is to be powerful and dark, but indistinct ; so that
the eye is forced, as it were, upwards first, and descends with the water to
the base.
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE.
209
SECTION VI.— AERIAL PERSPECTIVE.
Gien siigachan, Skye. presentation. The consideration of linear
perspective terminates with the outline or composition ; but the study of
aerial perspective must be continued throughout the whole progress of the
picture, as, in fact, it not only embraces all the numerous effects of atmo-
sphere, denominated by artists “ the keeping of the picture,” but is of the
greatest importance in all contrasts or oppositions, whether of light and
shade or colour. It is therefore highly desirable that the attention of the
student in colour should be first directed to the examination of the effects
of air on the real landscape, so that he may be able in his picture to imitate
or introduce the appearance of it in varied quantities proportionate to the
different distances. A pure atmosphere may be perfectly transparent and
p
210
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
colourless, presenting very little obstacle to our vision even when interposed
between us and objects at great distances, as is evident in mountainous
countries. In Italy, where the air is free from vapours, we can clearly see
even minute objects when removed far from the eye ; but in general, and
particularly in our own climate, the air is so loaded with vapours of a bluish-
gray tint that the appearance of distant objects is materially altered. The
most careful examination and comparison is needed to convince us of the
extent of this alteration.
There are many causes which contribute to vary the tones of mountains
or distant portions of the landscape. Few surfaces in nature are perfectly
uniform in appearance to any considerable extent ; for the whole landscape
is composed of objects differing considerably in colour, and the surfaces are
also very unequally placed with regard to the light : so we have diversities
of light and shade as well as colour, resulting from cavities, different kinds
of rock or earths, and vegetation or foliage still more varied. All these
separate colours become mingled together when viewed from a distance, and
consequently produce an impression on the eye of some general tone or
tint which is a kind of medium between the local colours most predomi-
nating ; and it is observable, that in Italy or in Switzerland, in consequence
of the greater freedom from moisture and the attenuated atmosphere, we
can very truly retain the local colours for a longer distance than in Eng-
land, where much moist air usually exists. In drier countries, then, we
must be on our guard that we do not overcharge the distance with too
great a variety either of colours or detail ; for the limited power that we
possess will not then permit us to represent the great difference that should
exist between distance and foreground in our picture. In English land-
scape, however, we should avoid always recurring to pure blue to express
distance, but endeavour to accomplish it by delicate refinement and variety
in the tones. To realize in our study the effect of the intervening body of
air, differing in degrees of density and occasionally in tint, it may be ima-
gined as divided into very delicate films or veils, placed at certain distances
from us, depriving objects of the strength of their colour and shadows in
proportion to the opacity or number of the intervening veils ; the lights are
subdued until they become gray, and the shadows also, losing their strength,
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE.
211
blend with the former in the extreme distance, and produce a monotonous
tint of bluish-gray. In the foreground of the picture, the colours may be
supposed to have their true force, the lights in this part being brightest
and the shadows darkest. The distance of a hundred yards may be repre-
sented by one veil, a mile by a second, four miles by a third, and the
extreme distance by a fourth. If four veils of this kind are interposed at
relative distances, even in a room, some effect of the kind will be produced ;
and it may be tried by using black cloth as the substance looked at. This
effect has been attempted, although of course with diminished results from
the want of natural colour, in the heading of this section. The distant
mountain on the left has the same outline, only reversed, as the shed in the
foreground ; yet how different in size do they appear ! one coming close
to the spectator, the other miles away. When by such experiments, com-
bined with the study of the real effects in the open air, the student becomes
aware how indispensable it is to represent atmosphere, he will never rest
satisfied until he can imitate the effect in his pictures ; and he will no longer
entertain the idea, common to the young and uneducated, that green or red
must always be painted as they appear when near at hand.
To secure a general approximation to the natural effect of air, water-
colour paintings are commenced in the manner described in Chapter III.
Section III., on “the Mode of Working,” by laying on first washes of tints
like those employed in the sky or distance ; the bluish-grays are gradually
changed for those made with madders, and in the foreground blue is super-
seded by yellow ochre or burnt sienna. The whole subject is thus toned
down with three or four washes, differing in degrees of warmth and air, and
prepared to receive the after-tones ; while the eye is not disturbed by masses
of crude white paper out of harmony with the colour or distance. It is
not, however, advisable to bring blues or grayish neutral tints into the fore-
ground, or to put in lights and shades with them, as was formerly the
custom, because that practice destroys any chance of obtaining striking
contrasts or pure colours ; and also, as we have but a limited scale of colour
or power, those pigments which are so peculiarly suitable to produce the
effect of air must be reserved for the sky and distance.
In carrying out the aerial perspective of his picture, the student should
p 2
212
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
turn from one object to another, and notice if the effect is gained : thus,
from a rock or tree in the foreground, he should pass at once over a mile to
the rocks or trees in contact with them in the picture, but far removed in
reality ; he should examine his subject in every direction, whether passing
from the foreground to the distance, or coming back again to the near parts,
and ascertain that all the objects, or even parts of objects, keep their places ;
even the colour of the weather-stains on a house, or the tones of lichens on
a mass of rock, must be represented in accordance with the distance at which
they are seen. By this custom he will avoid relieving objects with equal
degrees of strength against the aerial tones of the distance ; there should be
space or air represented even between the branches of a tree — some appear-
ing near, others farther off. It will be advisable in this examination to pass
the eye up the boundary lines of the picture, and also by cutting a hole in a
piece of paper, and placing it over each object, see whether its general tone
is suitable to the position it holds, — whether the touch or character is too
large, or the texture too much shown ; for even hiding all other parts of the
picture, each object ought to have its true distance indicated to the eye. If
the effect of aerial perspective has neither been secured by the first tints nor
by the after- working, it can be assisted by touching with water, and taking
out some of the dark portions, or by passing sometimes a wet brush over the
texture, and so rendering it indistinct ; also by employing with great caution
a little Chinese white, delicately warmed with light red, yellow ochre, or
cadmium, if the effect desired is warm ; or a gray made with crimson-lake
and cobalt may be used ; and by scumbling with these opaque tones, using
a dry brush, a semi-opaque tint is produced, giving great air and distance.
In this manner a warm ray of sunlight, loaded with reddish or orange tones,
may be passed across a portion of the distance or the branch of a tree,
giving a dusky and warm effect which cannot be obtained in any other way.
In like manner, smoke can be better represented by scumbling these
opaque tones over the dark colours of trees, &c., than by leaving any strongly
defined shapes on the paper.
ON MOUNTAINS, DISTANCES.
213
SECTION VII.— ON MOUNTAINS, DISTANCES, etc.
The words of the poet here express with
striking force the sensations of the true artist
in presence of “those mighty hills,” those
“ everlasting clouds.” Well may he feel over-
Lang Kofei, Tyrol. powered at the task which lies before him of
attempting to embody the infinite variety of hues, the delicate gradations
of tints, they present. Their forms must be given with decision, yet with
the utmost delicacy of touch ; their striking characteristics should be pre-
served, while their grandeur remains undiminished ; yet their position, as
belonging to the background, ought to be borne in mind, and the
first beholds those everlasting clouds, —
Those mighty hills, so shadowy, so sublime,
As rather to belong to heaven than earth, —
But instantly receives into his soul
A sense, a feeling, that he loses not, —
A something that informs him ’tis an hour
Whence he may date henceforward and for ever.
Rogers.
214
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
interest they create should be of a kind entirely distinct from the emotions
excited by objects in the foreground.
The aerial tones required to represent the air, sky, and clouds, do not in
themselves differ materially from the hues and tints necessary in the
delineation of mountains and distance ; but the whole, when completed,
should differ essentially in character ; for rays of light can penetrate the
former in every direction, while, notwithstanding the extreme tenuity of
the colour indicating them, the latter must always appear solid.
The chief means by which this important character can be obtained is
by devoting our first and most earnest consideration to the outline of
mountains. They should be most decided in form, though delicate in
colour ; no blurred or indefinite edges can be admitted, there not being
any such in nature. If there is a difference in the tone of distant
mountains, it is rather more firmly expressed at the summits or edges
in contact with the sky or clouds, owing to the contrast which there
occurs between solid and opaque bodies ; but the general mass of the
tint should be devoid of any minute markings, because such details would
not be distinguishable in the distance.
The first attention, then, must be given to the outline of mountains,
that being most important. This varies of course with the nature of- the ~
rock of which they are composed ; granite, slate, and limestone each
possessing characteristic appearances peculiar to themselves, and not
difficult to distinguish at a distance. These different formations afford
variety of line to compositions ; some presenting to the artist larger and
grander forms than others. Thus granite is distinguished by massiveness
and largeness of parts ; while slate is characterised by thin layers or strata.
The outline at the summits of mountains is frequently so diversified with
inclinations or slopes at different angles and unequal quantities, that the
eye is pleased with variety, while the impression of magnitude is main-
tained. Obtuse angles of different degrees, alternating with slightly curved
or broken lines, are constantly seen in those mountains considered the
most beautiful. Beauty of form must not be considered to depend only
on a certain proportion of straight lines, angles, and curves, but in the
power of expression which some forms have to indicate the character of
ON MOUNTAINS, DISTANCES.
215
the body delineated: thus forms which all acknowledge as beautiful or
graceful in the human figure would be far from deserving such epithets
when applied to lines of mountains ; neither would the loose and flowing
character of the touch for foliage be in any degree suitable for hills.
In practice* we shall find that the first washes of neutral tints, gene-
rally composed of yellow ochre and brown madder, will be of great service
if used with judgment. They should . be put in with great delicacy, and
rendered aerial by repeated washings between each tint, care being taken
to vary the quantity of the yellow or the madder according to the tones
which are to be placed over them. These preliminary tones can almost
always be passed over the mountains or distance, as they are darker than
the sky : without these tints to harmonise the whole, there would appear
much crudeness ip the colouring; they also assist in giving the solidity
belonging to opaque bodies* It is not, however, necessary to confine our-
selves strictly to the actual tints used for the sky ; for when passing these
first washes over mountains, more richness and depth may be given, par-
ticularly in descending from the summits towards the base, or in approach-
ing the middle distance, if the tints are worked with a full brush, and
permitted to run into each other without the sudden separation caused by
allowing them to dry; and at the time this is done the colour can be
increased or modified by taking up other tones on the point of the brush.
No mode of working will be so productive of aerial tones, and preserve the
granulation of the paper so well, as leaving each tint to dry thoroughly,
and afterwards washing it well with plenty of water ; which carries off all
earthy particles of the pigments that may have settled into the interstices
of the paper, and also allows of washing up portions of colour which may
be laid on too dark, and . of obliterating any lines where tints may have
joined : the granulation of the whole is, if lost, restored by this process,
and an opportunity given to alter the tone, if necessary, by laying on a
wash of some pure transparent colour of a different hue. In sketching
from nature it is, however, not possible to resort to these washings; we
must then trust more to the skilful management described in Blotting-in,
“ Mode of Working.” It frequently happens that one transparent tint of
pure colour passed over another like in character, but differing in tone,
216
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
will be better than mixing the two on the palette previously. It must, how-
ever, be remembered that the colour last laid on will appear stronger in
proportion to its depth : more transparency will result from a repetition of
these apparently tedious processes than from giving the full depth by a
strong tint at once. In respect to the extreme distance, when the horizon
is visible, as at sea, the sky tones may be passed over it without leaving
any smaller lights, as they can be better taken out afterwards. The middle
distance is produced in the same manner, and with little variation of pig-
ments, excepting the substitution of more powerful colours instead of those
previously employed.
By referring to the Table of Aerial Grays, Plate 10, many combinations
of suitable pigments will be seen. For] the first wash, a neutral orange,
composed of yellow ochre and brown madder ; using more madder where the
tones that follow are to be gray or blue, and yellow ochre predominating
where light and warm tones succeed. Greater brilliancy and purity are
produced by rose or jpurple madder and cadmium ; but these qualities are
more requisite in the sky than in mountains or distances. When parts of
mountains are in sunlight, washes of light red and yellow ochre , or cad-
mium, with lemon yellow , may be used. However light the tones of moun-
tains appear, no opportunity should be neglected of comparing them with
white paper placed in the same light ; for the amount of tone on objects is
not evident to the eye unless we avail ourselves of such aids. By com-
paring the strength of these tones, we shall learn to give them only that
force that our limited power will allow, keeping them properly subservient
to the brighter lights, for all must be in proportion : we work with pig-
ments, and on paper, dull in comparison to the brilliancy of light. In
nature, an opportunity occurs of ascertaining the degree of tone or strength
of colour there may be on mountains by noticing them when their summits
are covered with snow, white being the only colour which does not alter
by the interposition of pure air.
SKETCHING OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
217
SECTION VIII.— SKETCHING- OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
%
i'S
Moel Siabod, North Wales.
HE acquisition of the power of sketching
from nature, i. e. of producing correct
and vigorous representations of natural
scenes, is one of the great objects to
which the student’s attention is directed. Perfection
in such representations is unattainable ; for, even sup-
posing all others satisfied, the artist must always feel
that the production of his hand faUs infinitely short of
the truth and beauty of nature. Yet, notwithstanding
his insufficiency, how delightful is the possession of a faculty enabling him
to perpetuate even a dim reflection of a scene, the loveliness of which has
given him an intense feeling of pleasure on beholding ! The labour of
months, or even years, of study that must precede its full acquirement in
all cases, — not even excepting those of the gifted few, in whom the pos-
session of genius in some degree supplies the place of laborious applica-
tion,— is most amply repaid by the attainment.
The study of nature is not the exclusive privilege of the accomplished
artist : the beginner also, after acquiring a knowledge of perspective and
218
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
a certain command over his materials, must, as the indispensable means
of attaining facility in representing nature, study her features under the
multiplied aspects presented to his view during the constant changes they
undergo. The opportunity of thus going to the source of all natural beauty
should be constantly used by the student, as while there, drinking the
purest draughts of inspiration, he may supply himself with a store of
thought for future use. Sir Joshua Reynolds observes, that “ it is indis-
putably evident that a great part of every man’s life must be employed in
collecting materials for the exercise of genius. Invention, strictly speaking,
is little more than a new combination of those images which have been
previously gathered and deposited in the memory : nothing can come of
nothing; he who has laid up no materials, can produce no combinations.
The artist who has his mind thus filled with ideas, and his hand made
expert by practice, works with ease and readiness.” System and method
are, however, necessary to enable him to derive the full benefit of these
mental and practical exercises ; for the experience of the author convinces
him that time is often wasted in repeated and desultory efforts, undertaken
without a clear conception of the object to be attained. Let the necessity
of system and method be well understood in the first instance, and then
let full consideration be given to the best and easiest modes of arriving
at the result desired. This will eventually not only lessen the labour of
the student, but, by constraining him to define and reduce to practice the
principles on which his art is founded, tend to his more rapid advancement.
We advise the student to make choice, as his first sketch from nature,
of some object of simple outline, or one where light and shade can be com-
bined with form ; for objects of large and simple proportions, having few
divisions in their parts, and these very decided, are to be preferred : and
as in this instance form is more important than colour, the latter should
be such as not to interfere with his clear perception of the divisions or
gradations of light and shade. In the first period of studying from nature
the objects should be near at hand : an old stone pump or horse-trough,
a mass of rock, the end of a thatch-covered cottage with a few posts, or the
lower parts of stems of trees, banks, &c., — all these are excellent subjects
for first efforts ; and as they occupy the foreground, no difficulty will arise
SKETCHING OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
219
from aerial perspective or intricacy of colouring. After some practice in
sketching such objects, a foreground plant or group of plants, as burdocks,
coltsfoot, &c., with a portion of bank, rock, or stones, to give variety to the
form and colour, may be attempted ; after these may follow groups of foli-
age, combinations of rustic cottages, bridges, &c., with roads and trees. In
this manner the student becomes progressively acquainted with form, light
and shade, and also with the variations of colour presented under the
influence of accidental light and shade ; he learns to recognise all objects,
however hidden or altered they may be by effects of atmosphere, &c., even
when they are scarcely to be distinguished in the middle or extreme dis-
tance, because he has, by close inspection and careful imitation, become
well acquainted with their true character and appearance.
The next point should be to acquire the power of representing objects,
or groups of objects, in the middle distance in conjunction with those in
the foreground ; to compose their colours, tints, and shades, and to note
the change produced on them by the atmosphere, &c. At this distance,
objects are sufficiently removed from the eye to permit the shadows thrown
on them by other objects, or by clouds, to be observed, — causing much di-
versity of effect. Lastly, he should attempt the delicate* tones of mountains
and extreme distances, endeavouring to realize the space and grandeur of
the scene, at the same time giving the true colouring exhibited under
the varying influence of light and shade.
The author earnestly impresses upon the student the necessity of going
to nature with an unprejudiced mind, and a taste cultivated by a constant
consideration of the works of the best masters ; a perfect manipulation and
power of using his instruments, and a thorough knowledge of the qualities
of his pigments : and let him join to these acquirements the simplicity of
a child to receive impressions, and a love of the truth constantly before his
eyes in nature. With such a temperament and an enlarged view of his
vocation, let him commence his study, and carefully copy those portions
of nature he has selected, somewhat in the order in which they are men-
tioned in this work ; and not merely one example of each, but several
specimens, varying in position, in season, and in time of day : taking heed
lest he become partial to any one, and unawares consider it a type of the
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220
whole ; for though it may be comparatively easy continually to paint similar
scenes under similar effects, it would confer on him but little benefit to be
constantly repeating the same studies. To draw repeatedly a single leaf or
branch of an elm, at one time or season, would scarcely serve to give a true
idea of the foliage ; to study only limestone rock, or only slate, will not be
sufficient : the objects should be drawn at all times and with equal care,
and thus mannerism will be avoided. If the Greeks had studied from one
model or one man only, in one action, they would never have acquired the
power and natural grandeur displayed in the Elgin marbles. They saw the
human figure continually in action ; and, with perhaps fewer opportunities
for the study of anatomy than the moderns possess, they have produced
works which still command our wonder and admiration. Taking such an
enlarged and comprehensive view of the study of art, the student, after
gaining a knowledge of form, will learn how he may leave it undefined, —
after acquiring a knowledge of the natural colour of each object in the
foreground in the larger view of nature, how it is altered by air, reflection,
and contrast.
To represent, or rather endeavour to represent, all parts of a picture,
with the forms as carefully made out as if seen through a magnifying-glass,
is not the province of an artist. To consider the colour of trees as always
green, or of bricks as always red, is to take an erroneous view of art. Let
the student also try to represent light , air, and space, and to give to each
object in the picture the relative value it possesses in nature at the mo-
ment he views it.
As an illustration, we may refer to a delineation of the human figure.
When clothed, the head, face, and hands generally claim notice in the first
instance, as being the only parts uncovered ; of the face itself, the eye first
strikes the attention, next the mouth, and so on with the other features.
When the figure represented is nude, the outline, form, &c., rise in interest,
compared with the face, which no longer engages the chief attention. In
this manner, we observe how one part is at one time most conspicuous ; and
again how, under other circumstances, it loses in interest, while the sur-
rounding parts gain in proportion to its loss.
The great desideratum is, the possession of a mind so educated, a glance
SKETCHING OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
221
so comprehensive, and a memory so good, that when once the subject has
been seen under a perfect effect of light, shade, and colour, &c., it may be
treasured up with all its parts in their relative order and importance ; so
that although the artist in realizing his impressions may give to each point
in turn greater value than it should possess, he may, in combining them
to form the whole, so arrange and control the various materials, that while,
by using the knowledge which this minute study has given him, he renders
the details perfect, he still keeps them properly subordinate, sacrificing
them, not unfitly, to the general effect of the picture.
Studies of colouring from nature should always be large, and drawn
with the greatest care ; using pure white paper and moist colours. The
advantages which attach to the study of the figure on a large scale have
been well described by Haydon in his autobiography ; and as his observa-
tions are applicable to landscape, they are here introduced. “ Large pic-
tures, by the immense knowledge required, give you the power of painting
small ones better than if you painted small ones all your life. Because,
after the detail required by large works, you give the masses only in small
ones, with such decision that this work sends you back to a large canvas
with more love for masses than when you left off. A painter in large, when
he paints small, compresses his knowledge ; but a painter in small, when
he enlarges, extends his ignorance. It must be so. This is the reason
Bubens’s small works are so exquisite, and, indeed, all the small works of
great painters.”
By a careful search into the truth of nature, without allowing the mind
to become enervated by long reliance on other persons’ representations, the
bad effects of too much copying will be prevented ; a style will be formed
on the true principles of art, combined with a thorough knowledge of nature
and her laws ; and the false idea of power which may have been gained by
the laborious idleness of copying, — often pursued from a disinclination to
encounter the anxiety and trouble of following out with simplicity and faith-
fulness the wonderful variety of nature, — will be removed. The student must
be prepared to find that these first studies are in their execution deficient
in style, ease, and variety of manner ; but what they want in these qualities
is abundantly compensated by freshness and originality of thought. They
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
will not be, like the copies formerly produced, mere repetitions of another
person’s thoughts ; and, as to the attainment of excellence, it would be as
unreasonable to expect from a schoolboy that his first effort at composition
should be perfect, or from the juvenile orator that his first speech should
equal the orations of distinguished speakers, as that the student’s first efforts
in sketching should approach the productions of masters in the art.
In a lengthened sketching tour, a useful check on the natural tendency
of young artists to repeat favourite subjects and effects will be found in the
practice of viewing their sketches altogether at short intervals of time.
Spreading his sketches over the table, the young artist will at once detect
whether they represent too often one class of subject, one time of the day,
such as sunset or sunrise ; whether the lights in his sketches always enter
from the same side, or whether trees are chosen too frequently because the
foliage is easy of execution. By this sort of examination, it will be per-
ceived if the costumes of the figures have all the same colours and opposi-
tions ; and, in short, he will avoid the mortification of the amateur portrait-
painter, who found, upon hanging up his collection of portraits, that he had
painted the whole of his friends in profile, and that all looked in the same
direction.
While engaged in the interesting study of nature for the purpose of
imitating her, we should accustom ourselves to make notes, either on the
back of each sketch or in a small book kept in the pocket and ever at
hand. These notes should clearly but briefly indicate any peculiarity of
form, colour, or effect ; and will be afterwards found of great service in
explaining or enforcing ideas imperfectly rendered by the brush or pencil :
they will also enable the student to examine and reflect on the subject with
yet greater attention should he desire to paint a picture from any of his
sketches ; for then all these aids will be found of importance. The note-
book can also be used to try the effect of a few lines in the composition of
the subject, or in a rapid arrangement of the light and shade.
When sketching from nature, we have to attend to three principal points :
close observation of nature without prejudice ; careful and dexterous imi-
tation of the different parts with our materials ; and lastly, to make faithful
notes of minute circumstances not readily represented without description.
SKETCHING OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
223
Perhaps a few examples of such notes, taken somewhat at random from
sketching excursions, will explain the value of this practice, and at the
same time indicate the parts of the country best suited for the student’s
purposes.
North Wales is well adapted in most respects for the landscape-artist.
The scenery is hold, the rocks are striking in character, and the country
abounds in water, falling as well as in pools, with the advantage of foliage
of sufficient variety. In addition to these qualities, it possesses others which
materially affect the artist who wishes to study for any length of time : the
innkeepers arrange their terms, their hours of meals, and their accommo-
dation generally, to suit artists ; and some of the pleasantest hours of a
landscape-painter’s life may he spent in the quiet study of the various rustic
spots which abound in that vicinity. But there are many other places
equally picturesque, where the enthusiastic lover of nature and art can
exercise his pencil without any interruption by day, or any break to the
continuation of his thoughts by night. Some sketching notes, made during
an excursion in the Valley of Dolwyddellan, will explain practically the
author’s meaning, premising that, as morning and evening afford the most
varied effects, including sunrise and sunset, the sketcher should always
endeavour to be out at those times, taking the middle of the day for rest
and refreshment. To lose the lovely tints of evening, because he is either
occupied in dining, or from the fatiguing effects of a long day’s study,
would in a landscape- artist be inexcusable.
11 Aug. 20. — Four o'clock. — Went across the Llidder, over the suspended sal-
mon-trap, ascending the course of the stream : many excellent nooks for the
sketch-book, with rocks, birch, still pools, and clear reflections. After about a
mile, came to stepping-stones, which, being more varied in size and direction than
usual, and having a huge mass of rock, with a few stunted and rough alders grow-
ing out from its base, and almost lying on the surface of the water, made a beauti-
ful foreground to the view of Moel Siabod up the valley. The afternoon was warm
but misty, causing the mountain to appear more distant than it really was. The sun
was setting nearly over the mountain ; and thus, being behind it, made the whole
mass appear a broad and flat gray, rather lighter towards the base. The cliffs and
ranges of hills up the valley were divided into three or four distinct tones of grays,
varying in warmth according to their distance from the eye until the rich tones of
the green of the nearer trees and meadow-grass and hay were relieved against
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them. Bed of stream sprinkled with slate rocks of different shades, the reflection of
which with the bushes gave great variety ; the whole of the stream above the step-
ping-stones as dark as the distant mountain ; but, owing to the ripple and slight
fall there, the water was light, reflecting the rich yellow tones of the setting sun :
these tones contrasted well with the deep maroon and purply tones of the rocks in
shadow and reflection. Greatest contrast of light and dark about the large rocks ;
greatest breadth of light in the sky ; reflection of sun a long beam of warm yellow ;
general tone of sunset, yellow, in good harmony with the purply gray rocks and
cliffs. Girl and child crossing — rich citrine petticoat, orange neckerchief, white
jacket; child warm rosy colours. Action of crossing on these large stones not
walking, but succession of springs — same leg foremost.”
Stepping-stones are very interesting incidents in a picture ; but in gene-
ral, owing to the equality in their height, size, and the direct way in which
they cross the water, — being frequently parallel to the base line, — they are
difficult to manage. When varied in size, as in the present instance, or
when accompanied by rocks, bushes, &c., or when commencing or ending in
a broken or shelving bank or shallow bed, they are very picturesque, and
frequently give rise to a pleasing incident, or facilitate the introduction of a
figure, dog, &c., with their appropriate reflections.
“Aug. 21 : Hughes’s Falls of Conway Inn : Eight o'clock. — Our landlord
took us to a wild ravine through which the Conway rushes, called Fosse Noddyn ;
the scene much enclosed ; the rocks on each side of great but unequal height,
overhung with trees ; the opening through at the extremity very narrow, with
reflection in the water, a beam of light. Determined to make the drawing upright ;
try for the grays of the morning, always the most difficult to get ; contrast them
with warm sunlight on rocks in foreground. Sat till twelve o’clock ; found light
altering in direction, and getting too warm. Went again three other days same
time. Greatest mass of broad dark in the middle distance ; trees deep olive ; all the
colours, both of rocks and trees, in fore part of subject lighter in tone than middle
distance ; greatest dark contrasted with fall of water in light ; reflections in water
deep green (made with Vandyke brown and indigo) ; general tone of water very
dark, excepting reflection of light and sunlight on distant trees, which was bright
yellowish green ; moss, &c. on gray slate rock in foreground rich orange (burnt
sienna and brown madder). The portions of foam, as they come down the stream,
give to the curvature of channel perfect quietness and solitude ; otter crawled on a
shelving rock with salmon in his mouth. Although much overhung with trees and
shrubs, must not lose the sky by putting in all their straggling branches, as this is
the only part of the picture where the light can be broad.”
SKETCHING OR STUDYING IN COLOUR FROM NATURE.
225
On another leaf occurs a note of the colours for a figure, always a point
of difficulty to determine afterwards :
“ While studying a salmon-trap, man and dog came to examine it : green vel-
veteen jacket (faded), pale raw sienna in light, cool and indefinite in shade ; red
neckerchief, bright basket, rod, and pole.”
Still continuing to study in this same neighbourhood, which, besides the
advantages of good subjects, has also generally that of the society of minds
earnestly devoted to the pursuit of art, I find in my journal a description of
a rocky river scene studied with some care.
“ August 25. — Went down below the house to a place where Hughes said we
could cross the river Conway. Accomplished it by crawling and scrambling from
one huge rock to another ; nearly lost umbrella, stool, and pike by throwing them
on to a sloping rock in advance. These short cuts not desirable for an artist, as
they exhaust him and make his hand shake, besides causing him to become too
warm for the quiet and still occupation of sketching. Determined to make a care-
ful study, imperial size, of some large boulders of slate and schistose rocks lying in
bed of river, the colours of which were warmer and more varied than is usual with
slate, — admitting the principal mass of light to be on them, conjointly with a little
fall of water between them ; a battered trunk of a tree, almost without bark and
the roots up, was hitched in among the rocks, adding to the wild and picturesque
confusion, and giving variety and warmth to the colour ; strata of loose rocks in
different directions, showing that they are not in position, but brought there by
floods ; lights on largest mass, yellow ochre and brown madder ; moss, brown pink;
shadows, Vandyke brown and sepia, and black with yellow ochre — sometimes cooler,
and then to be made with the same colours without yellow ochre, but with indigo
and French blue ; reflection of warm light on water at the bottom of rock, raw
sienna. Torrent rich in colour to-day owing to rains ; as long as water glides over
the rounded surface of the rock, all dark rich tones, something of the colour of
porter or strong tea (brown pink, madder, Vandyke brown, and a little indigo); but
when it springs out from rock, and air conies behind it, lighter. Colour of trunk of
tree, rich burnt sienna or light red and Payne’s gray ; or on the bark, indigo and
lake, with yellow ochre. Fortunate that it lies in a position to unite two masses of
light so as to form one. Second large mass of rock richer in colour, brown madder
and French blue ; other masses much grayer (indigo and Indian red, Payne’s
gray and light red, black and yellow ochre, with little brown pink) ; whole mass
of rocks relieved in light against quiet gray green trees in shadow ; distant rocks
and crags, cool gray with warm lights. — Mem. The whole mass of foreground
brilliant without being crude ; no violent contrasts -of colour, no great appearance
Q
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
of opposition, — such, as purple and yellow, or blue and orange, or green and red, — ■
yet quite effective.”
As this work is of a practical nature, I venture to add one more descrip-
tion of the mode of proceeding with another rocky subject.
“ September. — Sad rainy and stormy weather the last three days ; this morning
rather better, but large volumes of dark lowering clouds drifting over the moun-
tains. All distance hidden ; so determined to try and find a sheltered nook in the
bed of the Conway once more. As I was likely to sketch only near objects, took
Whatman’s roughest paper well stretched, half imperial ; found a good group of
slate and other rocks in torrent, all the colours variations of the tertiary compounds
and hues, and cool, with the exception of a gleam now and then on some warmer-
coloured mass. After the outline, covered the whole paper with a full deep tone of
indigo and Indian red, indigo and brown madder, or indigo and Vandyke brown,
leaving the warm-coloured rock only in light. Eepeated the wash, only this time
leaving the sky and rock. The whole subject sure to be sober and gray after this,
even the trees, grass, and fern ; looks too dark. Put in all general shadows and
tints ; all decided in their form ; no markings or smaller divisions yet ; moss and
vegetation all darker than rocks. Second sitting, same kind of day. Began by
giving the form of the clouds, which were fine. Shadow of clouds deepest over
middle portion of hanging woods ; old oak on left hand relieved in rather warmer
half light. Must not leave the stems of birch-trees in wood too light, or they will
destroy the breadth. Glazed with transparent colours only, — raw sienna, Vandyke
brown and indigo, brown madder and indigo, burnt sienna and Payne’s gray,
Indian yellow, burnt sienna, and indigo ; where rather warmer,, raw sienna and
brown madder ; brown pink and Vandyke brown over mossy parts. Eubbed out
lights — getting granulation ; toned over some of these lights with warmer colour —
dipped rather dry brush in various colours, such as brown madder, yellow ochre,
burnt sienna, &c. ; dragged over the surface in the lights ; by these means lights
rendered more varied, opaque, and solid.”
In concluding these notes on sketching from nature, the author must
remark that, however useful the observations and remarks of uneducated
people may be in reference to natural effects, or the general forms and
colours of objects, the student must be cautious in following the advice of
such persons in searching for good subjects or favourable points of view for
the exercise of his art : they would undoubtedly lead him to the top of the
highest hill in the neighbourhood, whence an extended view might be taken
of the whole country, for it is the vulgar idea that the more that is seen, the
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227
finer will be the picture ; while, on the contrary, artists know that positions
chosen in valleys, by the side of streams and roads, furnish better foregrounds
and more variety of outline. It is related of one of our finest painters, that
on reaching the Bay of Naples, instead of sketching the whole of that glorious
scene, he (to the great chagrin of an amateur friend) sat quietly down and
made a careful study of a fine mass of rock, with a figure or two in the fore-
ground : while thus employed, he doubtless imbued his mind with the cha-
racteristic qualities of the whole scene. Amateurs are in general either
incapable of judging what country is suitable for producing good pictures,
or they do not take into consideration the peculiar capacity of the artist and
the object he may have in view. The best advice for the beginner is to be
obtained from some experienced artist friend, who, when he understands
what is the object of the tour, the length of time allotted to it, and the kind
of materials to be employed, will be qualified to judge of the mode in which
they may be used to the greatest advantage. A little vade-mecum of tours
for young landscape -artists might well be written by an experienced traveller
and sketcher, giving a short account of tours, the nature of the studies to be
found in each, and the easiest and most economical way of working them.
In the absence of a guide of this kind, the author adds to these hints on
sketching the names of a few favourable spots for study. For foregrounds
and plants : Hampstead Heath, more particularly north end ; the Brent at
Hanwell ; the banks of the Thames at Maidenhead, Staines, &c. For the
study of trees : old oaks and beeches abound in Windsor Forest ; old oaks,
in Packington Park, Warwickshire ; at Cobham, near Gravesend ; beech at
Knowle, near Sevenoaks ; for polled beech, the Burnham Beeches, near
Maidenhead, afford good studies. Fine specimens of Spanish chestnuts may
be found at Norbury, Beechworth and Deepdeen Parks, near Dorking, and
also in Greenwich Park ; wych or mountain elm, in Cashiobury Park, near
Watford ; limes, in the same locality. Fine elms are scattered abundantly
all over the country ; which is also the case with the ash. Fishing-boats may
be studied at Hastings, Yarmouth, and Brixham, south of Devonshire. For
rocks and falling water, the student will find abundant examples at Hastings
(sandstone), Cullercoats (sandstone), Marston (limestone), Ly mouth, North
Devon, Dartmouth, Dartmoor (chiefly granite) ; in North Wales, at Capel
Q2
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Curig, Bettws-y-Coed, Dolgelly (chiefly slate), &c. But to find combined,
rocks, bold headlands, distant mountains, and islands, in the greatest variety,
the student should visit the west of Scotland, which affords abundant mate-
rials for endless study ; taking care not to pass over too great an extent of
country at one time, but rather setting himself down quietly for the season
in one of the following places : Head of Loch Lomond, at Glen Falloch ;
Killin, Loch Tay ; Dalmally, Loch Awe ; Oban ; Arran ; Loch Fine ; and,
to conclude this list with the finest and wildest scenery in Great Britain, the
Isle of Skye. By means of the steamers from Glasgow this extraordinary,
wild, and magnificent island can now be easily reached ; and the young artist,
losing no time at Broadford, should pass immediately on to Sligachan inn,
in Glen Sligachan, Loch Coruisk, and Loch Scavaig, where he will find all
that an enthusiastic lover of wild and savage nature can desire.
Burnham Beeches.
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
229
SECTION IX.— PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE, DESIGNATED BY
ARTISTS “ EFFECTS.”
varying effects that are seen in nature. Beautiful under all changes, they
may in a degree he compared to the display of feelings and emotions on the
human face : hut with this important difference, that the latter, when affected
hy some of the most striking of these, occasions pain, from the idea that
they result from ill-regulated passions ; whereas in the wide expanse of
nature storms may rise -and the wild elements he let loose, yet amid all
this tumult and commotion the mind of the observer is sensible only of
emotions of awe and sublimity, from his consciousness that all is controlled
by a beneficent hand ever working for the general good.
The delineation of these evanescent effects will, with the like endeavour
to represent human passions, always prove the greatest difficulty with which
artists have to contend ; so easy is it to “ o’erstep the modesty of nature,”
so difficult to give expression without destroying grace and beauty. Still
the attempt must be made ; for where all is monotony, nature is but half
of the picturesque, is due to the constantly
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portrayed, the finer shades of feeling are wanting, all remains cold and
deathlike.
To impress upon the student the vast importance of this portion of his
study, a few observations will here be made upon some of the most import-
ant sources of the variations observable in nature. The sun alone, from
his glorious rise in the east to his decline in the west, with his constantly
changing elevation above the horizon, produces an unbounded range of
effects. Influenced by this great power, the atmosphere, clouds and mois-
ture, in numerous shapes, each afford an every-varying medium for present-
ing nature under different aspects ; and when to these are added the variety
of landscapes, seas, mountains, lakes, the wild common, or the woody dell,
in all their diversities of colouring according with the season, there are, it
must be confessed, inexhaustible sources for study and imitation.
In his first essays, when both mind and hand are occupied in acquiring
the language of art, the student must make choice of the simplest combina-
tions ; a light in one direction, few objects and colours, and single reflec-
tions, the time of day being frequently the same in repeated studies : but
the ambition of the matured artist induces him to seize the passing effects
of nature in her happiest moods, visible perhaps but for a moment, yet
remaining for years indelibly impressed upon the memory, — an enduring
source of occupation and enjoyment, imparting to the pencil a touch all but
magical in its action on the mind of the spectator.
When aiming at the representation of these transitory effects, the student
will find the boldness and decision of hand acquired by the practice recom-
mended in “Light and Shade” (Chapter III. Section IV.) of the greatest
use, enabling him to seize upon the chief distinctions in tone, while appar-
ently neglecting minor shades. No time must be lost in undecided tints or
feeble touches ; but the hues must be generalised in three or four distinct
tints, and as much as possible effected with these, not trusting to any
attractions gained by softening or finishing. Should the attention be dis-
tracted by minute details, in all probability the force of the effect would not
be preserved. Great extremes or unusual appearances must be avoided
until the student 'can give them without exaggeration ; but all opportunities
of studying the phenomena of nature should be embraced, as their truthful
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
231
representation gives great additional interest. As a general rale, in land-
scapes the hour of the day should he evident. To assist in showing this,
we must summon to our aid a knowledge of the different conformation of
clouds, as displayed at various periods of the day. Thus morning, either
before or after sunrise, will be indicated as much by the form of the clouds
as by their colour ; or, if cloudless, by the appearance of dawn in the sky,
by the summit of the hills alone being touched with light, or by mists lying
in the valleys. Midday by the direction of shadows, reflections, or general
expression of heat, calmness, and repose. In the evening, an exact chrono-
meter is afforded in the height of the sun above the horizon, the beautiful
and changing hue of the clouds, as day passing into twilight gives place to
sombre night. The student must not shut up his sketch-book or relax his
observations when the rain-cloud sweeps across the scene, many most charm-
ing effects being gained by watching its progress : the summer shower, pass-
ing in filmy veils over a portion only of the landscape ; the rainbow, its
companion, much or little displayed ; the lowering cloud, the thunderstorm
and lightning flash, the tempest, — all furnish the artist with valuable sub-
jects for study.
In these phenomena, effects should be copied at the time, and the
memory should not be trusted ; otherwise mistakes may occur, which to the
eye of any instructed person will appear simply ridiculous. A few notes,
taken from Milners Gallery of Nature , may remind the student of the
principal points to be considered. “ When rain is falling, and the sun is
on the horizon, the rainbow appears a complete semicircle if the rain-cloud
is sufficiently extensive to display it. Its extent diminishes as the solar
altitude increases, because the coloured arch is a portion of a circle whose
centre is a point in the sky directly opposite to the sun. Above the height
of forty-five degrees the primary bow is invisible ; and hence, in our climate,
the rainbow is not seen in summer about the middle of the day. In pecu-
liar positions, a complete circle may be beheld, as when the shower is on a
mountain, and the spectator in a valley ; or when viewed from the top of a
lofty pinnacle, nearly the whole circumference may sometimes be embraced.
When rain is abundant there is a secondary bow distinctly seen, produced
by a double reflection. This is exterior to the primary one, and the inter-
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veiling space has been observed to be occupied by an arch of coloured light.
The secondary bow differs from the other, in exhibiting the same series of
colours in an inverted order. Thus the red is the uppermost colour in the
interior bow, and the violet in the exterior. The same lovely spectacle may
be seen when the solar splendour falls upon the spray of the cataract and
the waves, the shower of an artificial fountain, and the dew upon the grass.”
When rain has ceased, and sunshine succeeded, the effect produced by
the passing shower may be shown by the freshness and glistering of the
green leaves, the unusual reflection on the road, steam rising from rocks or
places bare of verdure when the hot sun has burst forth, and, in addition,
the more easily noticed incidents occasioned by rain, as the posture and
grouping of cattle or figures that may have sought shelter from the sudden
shower.
Sir Humphrey Davy’s Salmonia also contains some remarks on the
rainbow and the colour of clouds. He considers that when clouds are red,
with a tint of purple in the west at sunset, the next day will be fine, because
the air when dry refracts more red, or lieat-making, rays ; and as dry air is
not perfectly transparent, they are again reflected in the horizon. A coppery
or yellow sunset foretells rain ; but as an indication of wet weather approach-
ing, nothing is more certain than a halo round the moon, which is produced
by the precipitated water ; and the larger the circle, the nearer the clouds,
and consequently the more ready to fall. In explanation also of the old
proverb, —
“ A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd’s warning ;
A rainbow at night is the shepherd’s delight,” —
he informs us, “ that a rainbow can only occur when the clouds containing
or depositing the rain are opposite to the sun ; and in the evening the rain-
bow is in the east, and in the morning in the west. And as our heavy rains
in this climate are usually brought by the westerly wind, a rainbow in the
west indicates that the bad weather is on the road, by the wind, to us ;
whereas the rainbow in the east proves that the rain in these clouds is pass-
ing from us.”
Among effects not so common, but still pictorial in their appearance,
the light of fire, and the contrast it offers to sunlight in colour, and the
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
233
direction from which it is generally thrown on clouds and surrounding
objects, may he noticed. When the evening sun illumines the clouds with
rosy tints, in consequence of its position in the distance, a portion of the
under part of them only is illuminated ; but a fire, as the sudden burning of
a house or a rick, throws a warm glow all over the clouds immediately
above it ; and the introduction of such an effect, or of burning stubble or
weeds, often gives much interest to the autumnal landscape : the smoke
and steam rising in curling wreaths is more illuminated through its entire
body than it would be under the sun’s influence. Beautiful tints are often
afforded by the morning or evening rays passing through the volumes of
widely-diffused steam emitted by the railway engine ; these are more
broken, and have a more evanescent character, than the settled light on
distant clouds. Fogs also, being mists greatly increased in density, are
much altered in colour by the introduction of smoke and other matters ;
these frequently change the entire tone, and present a yellow or brown
appearance, instead of a gray, neutral in its character.
Some little consideration is necessary to prevent the student from re-
presenting the phenomena of nature contrary to what they could possibly
appear. With regard to the rays of light proceeding from the sun, we must
recollect that these rays cannot be represented unless the sun itself is hidden
by clouds, mountains, or other objects. If a cloud or mountain is shown at
some distance from the sun, rays will commence from the cloud or moun-
tain, radiating or diverging from the sun as a centre ; and although the
rays are parallel, according to the rules of perspective, they will appear to
diverge as they approach the earth, and even those rays which are repre-
sented in a sunset as passing upwards are in reality coming down to the
earth. From a certain position, however, rays may appear both to diverge
and converge. Suppose, for instance, that in looking at the sun we see
rays diverging as they approach us ; on following their course as they pass
us, they will appear to converge as they recede in the distance. In repre-
senting the perspective of clouds, the student must recollect that they are
masses of vapour floating above the earth over a denser medium, and conse-
quently their lower surface is flatter than the upper ; in reality, the upper
part of cumuli expands into convex and varied forms of very different
234?
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
appearance : the more dense and opaque clouds are, the more light they will
reflect, and the more shadow they will throw.
The effect of the rain-cloud is so varied, and assists so much in giving
truth to the scenes depicted, that it may he further described. When seen
in the distance on a moderately calm day, rain may descend in a delicate veil
and parallel lines to the earth ; or sloped by a gentle breeze, it may still
further vary the forms. In mountainous countries, where rain most fre-
quently occurs, and where, owing to the darkness of the tints behind, it is
most conspicuous, the rain-cloud frequently affords an opportunity of veiling
some form not desirable in the composition. In marine subjects, the dark
storm-cloud contributes much to the sublimity and grandeur of the effect,
even without the addition of the lightning-flasli. If the lightning-flash be
attempted, we should endeavour to give it that form and direction which
those who have studied the subject say that it really presents ; for its
appearance is so momentary that, in fact, not merely the philosopher’s
science is needed, but some portion of the painter’s license also : as in
reality the landscape and the flash of lightning cannot be seen at one
moment, the. excess of light dazzling the eyes of the observer. Much dis-
cussion was raised some years since by a lightning-flash in Turner’s picture
of “ Deal Harbour,” which was curved and waved like a ribbon. Arago
distinguishes three classes of lightning. First, luminous discharges, cha-
racterised by a long streak of light, very thin and well defined at the
edges, of a white, violet, or purple hue, moving in a straight line, or devi-
ating into a zigzag track, frequently dividing into two or more streams in
striking terrestrial objects, but invariably proceeding from a single point.
Secondly, he notices expanded flashes spreading over a vast surface without
having any apparent depth, of a red, blue, or a violet colour, not so active as
the former class, and generally confined to the edges of the clouds from
which they appear to proceed. Thirdly, he mentions concentrated masses
of light, termed globular lightning, which seem to occupy time, to endure
for several seconds, and to have a progressive motion.
After clouds and rain, mists possess great interest, as, whether partial
or general, they afford excellent opportunities to the landscape-artist to give
aerial perspective with truth, — a point of equal importance with the linear.
OTtE ipm rams smsoTt®, wra©s„, >»•
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
235
By the assistance of mists, the great difficulty that the painter feels in
representing distances may in some measure he overcome ; by them lights
and shadows are reduced, and minute details of masses lost, thus causing
greater breadth, and adding to the size of mountains. In nature, dense
mists, or the stratus clouds, frequently separate the summits of mountains
from their bases. In depicting these phenomena, however, we must pre-
serve so much of the outline or general tone of the mountain as shall enable
us to connect the whole into one mass.
Mists are not so common in Switzerland as in England ; and as there
are also strong oppositions in the colour of snow, dark firs, blue mountains,
and glaciers, subjects from that country require great care and skill in their
treatment. In Plate 19, an incident by no means uncommon in that
country has been introduced, representing an avalanche of snow falling
over a gallery in the wild passes of the Stelvio. This is the most recently
constructed military road over Monte Stelvio, and is the only means of
communication which the Emperor of Austria has to connect his German
and Italian states without violating the territory of another government.
This road is very interesting, not only from its being the highest carriage-
road in the world, but on account of the skill with which it is constructed,
and the sublime scenery through which it passes. It is a singular and
astonishing example of human labour. For a considerable distance half its
width is covered in by strong wooden galleries, with roofs and supports
sufficiently massive to resist the pressure of descending avalanches, which
are very common here in winter. Immense masses of rock, in themselves
mountains, throw out their black and scathed forms in striking contrast
with the brightness of the glaciers which they separate. To produce the
effect of snow, either when falling in detached flakes or in larger masses, as
in this instance, it is advisable to prepare the drawing by washes and tints,
getting in the general effect rather darker than it is wished to be when
finished. To imitate the loose flakes, there is no better plan than scraping
a razor over the surface, when the roughness of the paper allows it to take
off the tint from the eminences ; some of the light thus gained may be
toned down, if necessary, with light washes. In falling snow, the larger
portion of the flakes may be thus indicated ; but those close at hand some-
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
236
times require either to be touched on with opaque white in separate spots,
or sprinkled on by dragging the thumb-nail over a short-haired brush pre-
viously charged with white differing in degrees of opacity.
Snow, being a perfectly white surface, is admirably qualified to reflect
hues and tints transmitted from other sources ; thus the gray death-like
hue of the summits of the Alps at sunset is changed for the most beautiful
roseate tint immediately afterwards, and that again passes into a pale clear
moonlight tone.
Landseer has frequently represented snow with much truth, both in
quality and tone, showing the great degree of purity it possesses compared
with other white objects, such as game with white fur or plumage, ptarmi-
gans, &c. He has also represented the roseate hue it sometimes takes,
contrasted with the reflected cool colour in the shadows, in his affecting
picture of the dead deer and fawn ; but in the representation of mountains
covered at the summits with snow, Turner and Stanfield have best suc-
ceeded. A fine picture by the latter, of French soldiers passing a river near
Sarzana, must be still fresh in the memory of most students. The young
artist should not confuse the whiteness of snow in winter scenes with
the light on objects ; snow falls on the upper surfaces only, having often
cjuite a contrary direction and^ effect, making, for instance, roofs of houses
lighter instead of darker than the walls. Hoar frost and light falls of snow
do not affect the forms of objects ; but after heavy falls and drifting winds,
the outlines are either rounded or altogether altered. The melting of the
upper surface of snow, and its freezing again with a different reflective
power, causes another striking alteration in its appearance ; portions of
the Jungfrau become by this change perfectly dazzling in their effect. If
possible, the paper should be left pure and undisturbed to represent these
highest lights ; scraping out abrades the surface at the same time that it
lowers it, whereas it should appear in relief. Sometimes a decided edge, or
surface, can be given with Chinese white (oxide of zinc, which does not
change in colour, if pure) : it should be laid on solid and opaque ; if not
quite smooth, it may be scraped with a sharp razor, as a perfectly smooth
surface is required to reflect the light equally. Snow soon loses its extreme
purity. The sloping mounds of snow seen in the valley at the foot of the
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
237
Jungfrau from the Wengern Alp, appear much lower in tone than the
course of the fresh avalanches ; the latter resemble a broad white river
flowing over a gray ground. When the student has an opportunity of
examining pure snow, he should compare it in shadow, in diffused daylight,
and in sunlight ; he will then see how immensely superior sunlight is in
power to even the whitest object.
The representation of ice is sometimes attempted in river scenes ; it
exhibits some of the properties of water, being a level surface still pos-
sessing some portion of reflective power ; it is, however, grayer than water
in colour, and when cracked shows more of a green or blue tint. The
introduction of objects resting on the surface appears necessary to show
its peculiar distinction and solidity from water. When seen in the form of
glaciers, ice exhibits the greatest possible variety, — sometimes like waves
of undulating surfaces, sometimes separated into pinnacles and spires as it
falls over the uneven rocks beneath, and at other times at their termina-
tions showing magnificent caverns and fissures, very beautiful in colour.
The general hue of the surface, however, is much affected by the debris
of the rocks which have fallen on it in its course, giving it a decidedly
warm tint.
It is only when ice is clear and free from these deposits and snow that
it can show much variation of hue ; on such occasions, however, the colour
of the sky, clouds, rocks, or mountains surrounding it, materially affect it.
The ice of rivers varies in tint with the water, and the state it was in when
frozen. The colour also of glaciers varies much. The glacier of Rosenlaui
is noted for the purity and blueness of the ice.
ROCKS, DARTMOOR: RAIN, WITH SUN-GLEAM, PLATE XVI.
On the gray and weather-beaten granite rocks of Dartmoor, exceeding
in elevation fifteen hundred feet, although still below the general height of
clouds, their effect, combined with rain, is much more visible than in lower
countries. Such high table-lands show the effect of exposure in many ways :
in their colour having a hoariness and subdued coolness, but more parti-
cularly by their near contact with the clouds as they roll over and hide their
highest tors, or sometimes veil altogether the brow of a moor ; at other times
238
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
the sudden storm descends in torrents on the intervening valleys, accom-
panied with glimpses of brighter weather. At such times, both shepherd
and sheep are alike glad to crouch beneath the old gray rocks or over-
hanging heathery bank, cheered with a partial but watery gleam of sunlight,
giving some hopes of a termination of the shower. This is certainly not
the weather for an artist’s most elaborate studies ; but with a quick eye and
practised hand, he may, while joining in the welcome shelter take notes
for his future guidance.
In commencing an effect of rain, such as is attempted in the Plate, the
student should put a wash of pure gray over the whole subject, trying to
blot in the effect as completely as he can at once, for on such damp days
the paper dries very slowly ; but still he must necessarily wait for it to dry
before he is able to get the sharper lines of the falling rain and clouds, or
the still firmer line of the hill- side. These first tones should be perfectly
neutral, without any tendency to purple, — cobalt blue and Indian red , with
ivory black or light red, and ivory black or indigo , Indian red and yellow
ochre. After one or two of these general tones, the greens and other fore-
ground colours will appear less positive ; and yet in small portions of the
foreground he can remove some of the gray with a drier brush or cloth.
The blending of tints produced by working so much with gradated tones is
very favourable to such effects, as it imitates very closely the natural result
of falling rain, obscuring the forms and colours. It is advisable to use the
colours full and flowing freely, as they have in this state more the effect of
the wetted earth and glistening herbage. Eain, however general it may be
in the western and mountainous parts of our island, is more picturesque
when shown in partial showers : in this condition the artist finds it a useful
incident in veiling or altering the form or tone of mountains otherwise heavy ;
for while it conceals some of the parts, it may cause others, like the jutting
crag or near shoulder of a mountain, to separate into much finer forms.
(We have in recollection the difficulty we found in bringing Ben Cruclian
well into a. sketch of Kilchurn Castle, Loch Awe, without the assistance
of a welcome shower.) When we see a dark lowering cloud commencing to
fall in rain, the descending drops wfill cause the part from which it is falling
to be grayer and lighter than the other parts, but still it will appear like a
(DH TCIHtIB K?WJ ORIEL'S.
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
2.39
dark veil on the sky or lighter clouds behind ; hut when coming before a
still darker object, such as a mountain under shadow of a heavy cloud, it
will be lighter again. Something like this may be noticed even in towns,
by watching the large rain-drops or snow-flakes as they descend ; looking
up, they relieve dark against the sky, but against the darker houses they
appear light.
Sometimes a light shower may be seen falling from a cloud, but be
entirely dissipated before reaching the earth ; and not always falling perpen-
dicularly, but sloped by the direction of the wind. Heavy rain does not
obscure the distance so much as either mists, fogs, or steam. Steam is par-
ticularly dense, and casts a positive and intense shadow : one can observe
how completely it shuts out light and distance by standing at a railway-
station in heavy rain, and watching the steam of a departing train fill the
nearest arch ; the whole appears a dense opaque curtain, while the rain-drops
in comparison are no impediment to vision. Thus mountains and distances
should be shown when the rain is general, although many miles distant.
We may quote Mr. Twining on this subject: “The effects which are
subsequent to a fall of rain are in general picturesque and agreeable. The
soft transparency of the atmosphere ; the bright green of the meadows ; the
freshness of the vegetation in general ; the sparkling of the returning sun-
beam on the moistened surface of the leaves, and in the large drops which
they still throw off at every motion ; the steam rising from the previously
heated roofs ; the contrasts between the dazzling reflections of the moistened
roads and the dark appearance of the trunks of trees, and other objects of
wood, soaked with moisture, — are effects either pleasing in themselves, or ob-
taining that deeper interest which results from apposite associations, or from
the most explicit and pointed comments on the condition of the weather.”
ON THE DART, TWILIGHT, PLATE XX.
After the profusion of colour and endless variety of hues which are to
be seen at sunset, the sober tints of twilight may appear monotonous ; still
they frequently possess a harmony of the most refined character, comprising
indeed fewer notes, and in a lower key than when the sun was displaying
his glories as he sank below the horizon, but possessing abundance of tones
240
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
of great variety and power. The cool shadows of night may he creeping
np to possess the scene, hut they are softened and even warmed by the
reflection of lights still lingering in the sky and on the clouds. With
regard to the general tones of evening, philosophers as well as artists
consider that the tones of morning are generally grayer or cooler than
those of evening ; this will not, however, prevent the artist from delineat-
ing morning effects as sometimes warm, or, on the contrary, some even-
ing effects as sometimes cool. To account for the general tendency, we
quote Professor Muller, who says that “immediately after the maximum
diurnal temperature has been attained before sunset, the surface of the earth
and strata of the air at different heights begin to lose heat by radiation.
Before, however, this has led to the entire condensation of the aqueous
vapour, it passes through that transition stage which causes the evening red.
In the morning the case is different ; the vapours which, in the reversion of
the process, would probably have given rise to the red, do not rise till they
have been exposed sufficiently long to the sun’s action.” In twilight, such
as Plate 20, the evening grays are supposed to be increased by clouds. We
have therefore to begin the drawing by blot ting-in grays made with Indian
red , rose or 'purple madder and cobalt , strengthened by other washes, in
which indigo and ivory black are combined with French blue and madder ;
and in such effects the quiet predominating tones are secured by putting in
grays over the whole drawing, with the exception of the small portions of
the sky where the warm sunset-light still lingers : this prevents the stronger
tones afterwards used from approaching the glowing colour of sunset. In
suggesting studies of like character from nature, Plate 20 will, we believe,
be found useful.
MOONLIGHT, PLATE XXI.
Moonlight possesses great charms for all lovers of nature. Objects
seen by it seem separated from the more common light and influence of
every-day life, and subject to different laws, as if they belonged to another
world. But still the laws of nature must be studied and faithfully observed
by the artist who would convey this effect to his pictures, or only so much
deviation from them permitted as may be considered as a slight exaggera-
PLATE 21.
A
,
PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
241
tion, tending to produce a result on the eye of the spectator more in
accordance with the appearance of nature than would follow from an exact
copy. The illuminating power of the moon is very small in comparison
with that of the sun, some hundred thousand times less ; but we are hardly
aware how small until we see the moon in fair daylight near a bright
cloud, and compare its brilliancy with that of the latter : we then find we
can hardly distinguish it from the cloud, for it reflects no more light, and
sometimes much less, from an equal extent of surface. It is only by some
such examination and comparison of the real power of moonlight, that we
can arrive at a just conclusion upon this point. Again, the size of the
moon as compared with the field of view we take in when sketching a
subject, or with the objects in the picture, is far smaller than we usually
suppose. A man at about twenty-five yards from us would hide the whole
of a full moon with his head alone ; but although these considerations are
true and worthy of remembrance, they are not to confine students to any
exact proportionate size ; for we are aware that to give objects importance,
they frequently may be represented large in relation to the other parts of
the picture. In a picture of 60° visual angle the moon can truly occupy
only about the one hundred and twentieth part of its width ; when, there-
fore, we represent it large, we must consider the extent of the picture as
diminished, and the objects as necessarily near at hand.
In daylight views, if we can avoid introducing the sun into the picture,
we shall possess greater power for the other lights, as all lighted parts
ought to have but a small portion of the force of the illuminating body.
When the moon is in the picture the same point must be considered,
and care taken that the planes or surfaces of objects facing us are not in
light. When the moon is behind us, and consequently out of the picture,
we shall have the strongest possible light on objects ; and when it is on
either side, and rather behind us, an opportunity is presented of giving the
strongest lights and cast shadows together.
When the sun is represented within or at all near the visual angle, it is
scarcely necessary to observe that the full moon cannot be shown ; also,
when the new moon is shown, it must have the illuminated crescent turned
towards the sun ; with the latter below the horizon, the crescent would be
R
242
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
turned in the same direction. These points would almost appear trivial and
unnecessary ; but we continually see the crescent of the new moon repre-
sented as turned away from the setting sun. With regard to the degree
that the character or texture of objects ought to be shown, we may remark,
that in bright moonlight we can see to read print, and the colours of objects
near at hand are slightly visible ; grass will appear of a subdued olive-green,
and the colour of warm stone will be shown in a deep and cool maroon,
or as warm gray.
With respect to the tones and hues of moonlight subjects, it is not
advisable to begin with washes too cool, or the whole effect will be black ;
for when all parts are equally dark there is a loss of power. The drawing,
therefore, should be commenced with a wash of Indian yellow , or a mixture
of that colour and Indian red • the second tint may be Indian red and in-
digo, or sepia and indigo , with a little crimson lake. French blue may also
be used instead of indigo ; cobalt scarcely possesses power enough to be of
much service. The tones of buildings seen by this light may be made with
sepia , brown madder , or purple madder , combined with French blue or in-
digo ; Vandyke brown and indigo , with a little lake , form a good tone for
objects in shadow, also purple or brown madder with indigo ; and the green
of trees or grass with brown pink and indigo , with crimson lake or purple
madder. But notwithstanding our anxiety to preserve light in our picture,
we must not forget that if a moonlight view is hung by the side of a sunset,
it should at once show that it is moonlight ; it must be inferior by many
degrees in brilliancy and in warmth of colouring.
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
243
SECTION X.— FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
. ' HERE are but few
scenes in nature,
however beautiful
they may be, upon which
the eye can rest with conti-
nued pleasure unless they ex-
hibit some signs of animated
life ; consequently few land-
scapes are complete without
the introduction of figures or
animals — some objects in hu-
man form, or animals inti-
mately connected with them —
whereby to enlist our sym-
pathies in behalf of the scene
before us; moreover, they fur-
nish us with a scale by which
we can judge of the extent of the viewT, and the size of every other object it
may contain. Again, the costume, if rural figures, will indicate the country
in which the sketch was taken, for most countries show some peculiarities
in the dress of the peasantry ; by their occupation we can also give some
idea of the hour of the day, or the season of the year ; and taking advantage
of the license universally conceded to the painter, we can, by introducing
incidents, no matter how trivial in themselves, give to the sketch an air of
truthfulness and reality, imbuing with interest the most barren and deseited
spot, and lending a charm to the quiet and rustic nook.
In addition to these important points, rustic figures offer almost the
only opportunities for the display of the primitive colours ; in their dresses
R 2
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
244
will be found the strongest colours, which, harmoniously united and
judiciously contrasted, afford a point of strong attraction for the eye to rest
on, — a focus of great strength, having a powerful influence on all the other
hues of the picture, causing at the same time the foreground to advance, and
the distance to retire.
It is, however, a mistake to suppose that, even in these prominent por-
tions of a picture, colour must always appear in its full force ; on the con-
trary, we must still bear in mind that, neither in the strongest light nor in
the greatest dark, does it appear as positive as we know it to be in mode-
rate daylight. When we offend this law, and represent a red coat or blue
dress of the same pure tone both in the lights and shadows, how childish
and ridiculous does it appear ; while, on the other hand, if the colour is once
indicated with sufficient purity in those parts, namely, the half lights and
shadows, where it would be so seen in nature, nothing more is required.
It has been observed in more than one instance in this short treatise,
that colour, however strong, gives place to light and shade ; this it is that
produces the important quality of breadth observed in nature. To imitate
this successfully, we must study with care how the light will fall on the
figures we introduce into our landscapes. If they are important, in the
foreground, and are to attract the eye, we may find it advisable to arrange
the colours of the garments so that they may present considerable masses of
hues without any great division : the dresses of women and children espe-
cially give opportunities of placing colours and tones in harmonious arrange-
ment ; and while thus pleasing the eye by beauty of contrast, they serve to
draw our attention to the chief point of interest, or, if sufficiently important,
they may be themselves the greatest point of attraction. To give greater
contrast, we should avail ourselves of the darker clothing of men and boys ;
so that in all these groups variety may be given, and yet a general breadth
secured. Perhaps there is no portion of a figure, however powerful the
colour of the dress, which is so instantly distinguished by the eye as that left
uncovered, showing the rich-toned flesh. This is probably owing to its
being quite different from the tones of the landscape, or to its union with
forms that we at once recognise ; we are therefore always anxious to intro-
duce as much of the bare legs and feet as we may without making the figures
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
245
look cold ; to prevent this, we must bear in mind that they should he
coloured with warmth and be full in the outline.
Although we are thus attracted by the colour of flesh, the distance from
which figures are viewed in a landscape prevents the landscape-artist from
marking the features very minutely. He divides the face into broad masses
of light and shade ; the lesser differences in either portion being but little
regarded. If the figures, however, are near, and in strong sunlight, the
reflected light on the face may cause the whole to have a rich and warm
effect.
If it is desirable to have the whole of a figure in light, the colours should
be so selected that they bear more relation to light than shade, and thus do
not interfere with the breadth. The material of which dresses are made
has more influence on the masses of light and shade than would at first be
thought possible. Thick woollen homespun garments, made and dyed by
- the peasantry, generally harmonise better than others, their very thickness
causing them to form larger folds, thus giving greater breadth, while their
rough and varied texture is more easily imitated than those finer in quality.
From their durability, they acquire different tints as their colours fade ; and
this generally occurring on the prominent parts, greatly assists the deli-
neation of light and shade. One cause of the great want of picturesque
beauty about Manchester and large manufacturing towns is the poor thin
cotton dresses, covered with the smartest colours, displayed in sprigs or
spots all over the dress, while whole-coloured garments are equally rare.
These spotted or gaudy-coloured dresses remind us that in arranging sub-
divisions of colour we must still bear in view the necessity of breadth. For
example, a figure in a scarlet or orange-red jacket or cloak will have all the
vigorous attractive qualities of positive colour without destroying the light,
because this kind of red, broken with yellow, is more allied to light than to
shade. Yellow also, in a modified condition, can be used ; it diminishes
the quantity of light even less than red, but does not possess the same posi
tive character as a colour. When employed pure, it is apt to look gaudy
and rank ; a small quantity, such as a bonnet or a handkerchief affords, is
sometimes desirable ; but it is more generally agreeable when introduced in a
subdued condition in one of the secondary hues, as orange green or citrine.
246
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
Blue is subject to the same remarks. A large mass of it destroys the
effect of warmth, which is so agreeable in a picture and so essential in figures.
A cold shivering figure, whether the feeling is produced by coolness either
in the flesh tones or the dress, has a bad and painful effect. Those blues
composed of indigo, broken in the light by a little yellow or red, and form-
ing dull citrine or faded greenish tones, and contrasted in the shadow by
purples and reddish browns, are most pleasing. Bich brown tones also
made with madder and sepia, or Vandyke brown and lake, cooled in
the shadows with blue, are very agreeable to the eye.
When several colours are introduced, they may with care be so arranged
that they shall present harmony by analogy and simultaneous contrast at
the same time ; thus two figures may be so clothed, one having the upper
part green the lower a dull red, the other a broken purple and orange
yellow. It will be scarcely necessary to add, that these divisions are not to
be formal, terminating exactly at the precise line like diagrams of pure
colour, but must be broken or mellowed into each other by strong lights
which take away the colour, by shadows which subdue it, and by reflections
which considerably modify the tones. All should be done with the most
refined art, and yet the art itself should not be visible.
When it is desirable to direct the attention more particularly to one
figure, it can be effected by giving it greater contrast, not only in light and
shade, but by using such colours as shall produce simultaneous contrast.
The face also being turned to the spectator causes additional interest. Thus
also, in Plate 22, the red dress of the girl on horseback is rendered still
more conspicuous by the opposition of the green colour of the boy’s coat;
the man is at the same time placed in shadow, having the contrast of light
and shade, but deprived of violent contrasts of colours, as they are all mel-
lowed and broken. In all the colours wTdch are observed in nature on
figures, there will be some modification produced by simultaneous contrast
and by aerial perspective. This effect must be imitated either by laying on
the general tone first, or by passing one transparent tone over another : thus
all the primitive colours, including white and black, must be harmonised, or
they will look crude, the pigments being rarely put on quite pure ; black
especially looks heavy and unnatural when so used, and we ought to make
LEIGHTON, BROTHERS.
PLATE 22.
lSlEITOEEraEr®
MCSI BliUEilUCT. £OTE<
'
«•
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
247
this colour exceedingly valuable by using it seldom. In the sketch of two
children crossing a rustic bridge (page 252), an instance is given where the
necessity to seize the position or attitude at the moment it strikes vou is
evident. The children could not be taken to the bridge and told to call the
dog, throw down their gleanings, and arrange themselves naturally ; but
being caught, as it were, in an instant by the artist’s eye, they are much
more likely to appear simple and unaffected. General breadths or masses
may be put on all over the picture, the shadows added, and, if sharp vivid
lights are wanted, it is sometimes better to put them in with a firm brush
and solid Chinese white ; and when this is dry and hard, glaze over it with
the requisite colour at once. This produces great force.
The study of rustic figures must always present difficulties to the artist :
if he is strongly attached to landscape, he grudges the time or interruption
it appears to cause in his principal study ; he frequently allows figures which
are passing by to escape his pencil, and when he is afterwards painting his
picture, he wants these very figures to complete it. Let him therefore not
hesitate to drop his landscape study when he encounters such incidents ; but
if his picture is not in a fit state to receive them, take out his small
note-book, and sketch at least the attitudes, and make notes of the colours.
These notes will serve to guide him in making a finished study, if he can
procure the figures to sit or stand for him at a future time. It is useless
for an artist to say, “ Now, to-day I will study figures,” because many of
the best and most appropriate incidents or figures may not be found at the
moment : nor does he always succeed in finding upon the spot a complete
group suitable to his picture ; he may meet with figures scattered at inter-
vals over the subject, in such situations that, were he to introduce them in
this way without thought or system, he would divide the interest and destroy
the effect of unity. Tor instance, if he finds at one moment a figure like
the girl on horseback (Plate 22), the boy might not be there, or the acces-
sories, such as baskets, panniers, &c., not so picturesque as may be seen in
another instance ; but the constant habit of filling the note-book with
studies of this kind wherever they are to be found, will enable the painter
to enrich his finished picture with the most appropriate details.
If three or four figures are introduced of the same size, it is better to
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unite them in one group ; when, by varying the attitudes or positions, an
agreeable connexion or union of sentiment and action throughout the whole
will be produced. It is desirable to decide, when the group first strikes the
eye or the imagination, which figure or figures shall be predominant, in order
not only that the forms should be the most important, but also that the
colours of the dresses should be so chosen or arranged, if they are not for-
tunate in nature, that they may assist in giving force and beauty to the
group.
If the landscape is nearly completed, and it is still doubtful where the
figure or group ought to be placed, the artist may cover with his hand the
spot where he thinks it likely it should be, and by the force of imagination
suppose it there : he can then judge how it would be situated with regard to
other objects ; so that he may avoid placing interest under interest, or object
over object. Should his imaginative powers not suffice to embody the effect
of colours and contrasts, he can easily blot them on a small piece of paper,
and placing that over the spot, try the effect. Although it is advisable to
have one group or incident predominant both in form and colour, that does
not prevent the introduction of a figure, or even groups, of less importance
in the distance ; the brilliant colours of the principal group, on the contrary,
often gain by being repeated in a moderated or lesser degree in the other
figures or groups.
The size of figures to be drawn in landscapes has often proved a source
of doubt to the student : generally speaking they should be small, for they
must not divide the interest with the scene, but only add to it ; they are, in
fact, accessories : if too large, the landscape becomes subservient to them ;
both cannot be equally attractive. Very often the actual space figures
occupy in a landscape is exceedingly small ; but they derive much of their
importance from their motion. This power they possess in common with
certain other portions of the landscape, such as clouds, water, smoke, &c. ;
but when we add to this motion the idea of life, the sentiment of interest is
so much increased, that the smallest spot of colour passing rapidly along
has power to attract the eye or absorb the whole attention : thus the flash
of colour produced by a kingfisher along a solitary stream, the gray heron
in his silent flight, or even a fluttering butterfly, become of importance ; and
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
249
to possess that in the picture, they must he drawn larger and brighter than
they really are. Another instance of the effect of motion in determining
©
objects when they are either exceedingly small in the distance, or when their
colours are the same as the objects around them, may be mentioned : a
stationary figure may be taken for a rock or the stump of a tree ; but when
seen in motion, the eye is instantly riveted on it, and figures which appear
as mere specks can thus be traced in their progress up the mountain-passes.
To give the full importance either to the forms or colours of figures intro-
duced, we must be careful as to placing strong forms or colours of the same
hue or power about them ; and we may still further assist this distinction
by taking care that neither their forms, their colours, nor the manner or
touch with which they are made out, should repeat the inanimate portion
of the landscape surrounding them.
Good drawing and decision in outline is even more essential in rustic
figures than in the landscape ; at any rate, inaccuracy is more easily
detected, for all are by nature and unobserved training constituted judges
of the truth and correctness of the human figure. It is well, therefore, for
all who introduce figures into their landscapes to study the proportions and
anatomy of the human form previously. This may be done with great
facility in London and all the large towns at the present time, where there are
many works of great ability which will assist the student ; and he may rest
assured that the time will not be lost in the employment, for it enlarges the
ideas, and greatly contributes to form a good style. A few hints may, how-
ever, be given to the landscape-student here, which, in the absence of these
opportunities, may assist him in sketching the rustic figures he meets with
in his rambles. They should always be introduced appropriately ; they
should be naturally employed, connected with the scene, and not divide or
distract the interest, but add to it. Their actions, positions, &c., should be
seized at once, and put down, that the spirit may not be lost ; the truthful-
ness thus given to the merest sketch is surprising. To effect this with
rapidity, the decision and correctness which has been gained by copying
geometrical figures of lines, angles, and forms, in different positions and
quantities, will be very useful. A certain firmness or squareness of line or
form, which results from drawing from point to point in straight lines,
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begets firmness or largeness of style in sketching the figure. This mode
of viewing every thing in large masses, without subdivision, is seen in all
the best painters, and is applicable to works of any class or school ; it pre-
vents timidity or meanness in the execution, and should not be confounded
with caricature, which is an exaggeration of peculiarities. If the figure be
upright and equally balanced on the feet, a horizontal line or a mark should
be put where the feet are to come, this being very important, as indicating
the distance it is from the base of tlie picture ; then a mark for the top of
the head, this gives the height ; a perpendicular line is now made, and comes
of course, in the case mentioned, between the feet ; but if the figure is
standing more on one foot than another, this line will be in the middle of
the foot upon which it is standing, or rather between the two points. If the
figure is in action, as walking, running, or carrying anything of weight, the
proportion of the body on each side of the line will vary : in the case of pro-
gression the body is, of course, thrown forward ; and it will at once be per-
ceived that the leg must be advanced, or the figure would fall. A rustic
figure may be considered as about seven heads- high ; a child, having the
head larger in proportion, may be about five. A line across the shoulders
will next assist the student most, as by it he may give the action as well as
proportion. If the action of the figure throws it considerably out of the
upright, a line should be struck, which may be supposed, to indicate the
spine ; then lines to denote the direction or position of the arms and legs.
It may seem strange, but it is the custom of most landscape-painters who
only sketch the figure generally and rapidly to put in the head after the
trunk and a portion of the limbs, thus taking the most effective lines while
they are visible. In drawing the head, the oval of the face, the frontal line
which goes down the centre of the brows, nose, lips, and chin, and which
curves with the direction of the face, the lines through the eyes, nostrils, and
mouth, all agreeing and curved either up or down according to the position
of the head, are the first drawn ; and, aided by the general direction these
give, the features are blocked out. The hands and feet are treated in the
same way — the large masses first, and the subdivisions afterwards ; but care
should be taken to go over the whole, marking all the delicate variations of
line, for it is highly important for the student to possess a good outline
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
251
before lie begins colouring. If the study of the figures is large, the outline
should be rubbed faint, and put in with the brush and sepia or brown
madder, marking in some indications of the light and shade. The principal
shadows of the face and figure are now put in ; and these should be made
with Vandyke brown as a foundation, warmed with broim madder or cooled
with cobalt , according as the transparency of the blood tells or not ; and
when dry, the flesh tint may be added in a wash of delicate Indian yellow
and Venetian red , or burnt sienna ; or to get greater brilliancy, cadmium
and carmine , broken down with burnt sienna and cobalt for a greenish neutral
shadow, and Venetian red and cobalt for a reddish neutral. If dark in
complexion, Indian yellow and Indian red or brown madder , or Vandyke
brown , sepia, or brown madder, with cobalt blue for the shadows, always re-
collecting that shadows appear warmer than their edges ; where in fact light
passes into shadow, there will appear gray, for on rounded forms the union
of the lights and shades produces a neutral gray, and changes the warmer
local colour at these parts into gray, the reflected lights in shadows being
the warmest. The most difficult part of figure-painting is the demi-tint,
the tones of which are most delicate and shifting ; the sweetest colour
of the figure lies in these tones. The simultaneous contrast from the
brilliant light flesh tells much on them. The flesh tint of the male figure
being orange pink, generally presents purply tones ; in the female a pink
orange, they incline to green. Much of the beauty of these tints will be
obtained by hatching warm tones over the first general washes ; by this pro-
cess transparency is given, and we appear to penetrate the shadow. If this
hatching should be too conspicuous, it may be subdued by a brush and clear
water. All this minute description of tints and shadows will be more
needed by those who study the rustic figure in large than by landscape-
painters in general, who, painting a face the size of a lady’s finger-nail, will
very probably blot it in with burnt sienna or light red, and scarcely even
trouble themselves to furnish it with eyes.
A few words may be added on cattle and animals, which contribute
such a charm to landscape-scenery. With figures they form most pleasing
groups, and give great interest to the simplest subjects. In them we possess
opportunities of showing colour in a purer state than in the landscape, and
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thus use them to give point and contrast to the whole picture. The colours
of cattle are generally rich and dark ; but we now and then find a white or
cream-coloured cow or horse of great use in introducing light into the fore-
ground. Horses, when rustic and rather shaggy in their coats, are well
suited to some kinds of landscapes, such as forest or heath scenes ; even dogs
become of importance in connexion with sheep or highland drovers. The
rich colours on cattle or animals can generally be best obtained by glazing
one pigment over another. If light, yellow ochre , or yellow ochre and light
red, or burnt sienna, or Indian yellow and brown madder ; if dark, they may
be made with burnt sienna and brown madder, or Indian yellow and purple
madder , or brown madder and sepia, or Vandyke brown and purple madder,
or Vandyke brown and crimson lake. Even when black, no black pigment
must be used, but colours should be united or glazed over each other to
produce a purply black, or blue, or brown black effect ; thus indigo
and purple madder, French Blue and Vandyke brown, or sepia, or purple
madder glazed with indigo or French blue : these giving all the depth
that is necessary without opacity, and produce a good effect.
Kenilworth Common.
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253
ADDENDA.
The following additional notes are in answer to the questions of a young
art-student friend :
By “ license conceded to the painter with regard to the introduction of figures”
previously mentioned, is meant that he has the right to place any figure or inci-
dents that he may have encountered and sketched at one time into a landscape
studied at another, provided that they are suitable and appropriate to the scene and
time. For example, in the Highlands, we may very likely meet just as many cock-
neys, dressed in short- tailed coats, glossy hats, gloves, and well-blacked hoots, as we
do of old weather-beaten shepherds, with their gray plaids and caps : the colour and
smartness of costume, with their actions and attitudes, at once indicate them to he
accidental visitors, neither contributing to the effect nor associating with our ideas
of the scene. The fashion of their clothing in particular, being discordant, should he
rejected, it being permitted to omit such even if they should he landed in shoals from
some Loch-Lomond steamer ; hut we rejoice in the appearance of an old shepherd or
gamekeeper, with rough- coated gray pony, pouches, game, and traps, as associated
with the country, and serving to give a focus to our sentiments. However, there are
occasions when the very inappropriateness of the figures in a landscape contributes
to enhance the effect : thus, in the midst of peace and solitude, an indication of a
coming storm, or result of past violence. This gives such great interest to Landseer’s
“ Challenge.” The deep repose and calm of the moonlight, in which the bellowing
monarch stands, with the certainty of the terrific combat that comes with his swim-
ming rival, adds character to the scene, and makes it almost a historical work. The
same may he said of “ The Sanctuary which has a certain amount of action in the
uplifting stag and startled wild-fowl, hut a grand effect of calmness and security in
the deepening shades of twilight settling over the distant lake and hills, thus throw-
ing a veil of obscurity over the hunted deer. Whoever has spent a single autumn in
the western Highlands must feel that this is true to nature, and yet elevated by the
painter’s imaginative art. But to indicate in some degree the hounds that should
he placed on this license, let us suppose a less experienced artist, seeing the attrac-
tive nature of the incident of the wild-fowl rising startled from the reeds in “ The
Sanctuary,” had introduced them in the “ Challenge the result would have been,
the intense interest now concentrated in the stag and his coming rival would be
divided, and the main point of the picture lost, in order to show how well the
laborious artist could paint ducks, or with what variety of objects he could enrich
his picture, forgetting that in art, as in other studies, small things must give place to
large. Again, Stanfield’s “ Abandoned,” undoubtedly one of the finest pictures he
has ever painted, owes much of its poetry and sentiment to the idea of the former
struggle, contrasting so artistically with the helpless deserted state of the noble ship.
Stanfield never got this idea from models, though he has some of the finest ; hut
from intimate acquaintance with the strength and beauty of the ocean. He might
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possibly have painted this wreck as she lay on the sands, or even at Rotherhithe ;
the clouds and waves he may have studied from his window at Hastings ; hut by
skilfully uniting the cause with the event, he has given poetry and feeling to the
wild waste of waters that only a master in his art could have done. This is what
may be called “ license,” or just imaginative combination, which those who rest too
much on model copying (living or dead) think objectionable. In these pictures,
then, the eye and mind tend to focus their powers on some one point of main
interest, to which every other thing in sight is subordinate and accessory. The more
definite this object appears, the more indefinite should be the surroundings ; and
when any scene about us happens to supply this condition in a striking degree, we
invariably have a picture. Turner, however, was our greatest master in the hand-
ling of this principle of bringing interest and focus into a picture ; nearly all his
works show how keenly he felt the necessity of this scale of piano and forte. We
can often observe the point or pivot on which his compositions turn, as it were, upon
a main focus of incident : very often a mountain top, or the reflection of a mountain-
summit in a lake ; again spreading through gradations of minor incident, as rocks,
buildings, shipping, figure-masses ; then subsiding into a final tranquillity of water
or sky. Thus, in the busiest scenes or pictures, there must be repose as well as
action ; or, if you prefer the terms, tranquillity and incident, — the former generally
greatly predominating. The want of this quality of repose is more evident than
agreeable in many modern works : it may come from the horror a young artist has
for “ canvas, to let ” not feeling, perhaps, that the pure and beautiful gradations of
a clear evening sky are quite as pictorial, when justly contrasted, as multiplicity of
form. Once more, on the introduction of incident into landscape for it is a very
difficult point with all, and not merely amateurs or young students. There may be
occasions when the very inappropriateness of figures or other incidents in a scene
will contribute to enhance the desired effect : in this way the power of each quality
is increased. Wallis’s beautiful and effective picture of “ Chatterton” was rendered
more striking by his showing the calm break of day : the candle quietly burning
out, and the gay dress even, so significative of the wild fancies, ambitious illusions,
and deceptive temperament of the poor boy, might or not have been true to life ;
but doubtless they assist the story : yet Chatterton might have died with the shutters
closed, or in the night, and without even a candle. This is license, and universally
conceded to painter as well as poet. Again, in the wild seclusion of the snowy
summits of the Alps, to find a poor chamois bleeding to death from the ball of the
hunter, while the innocent fawn hangs in anxious attitude over its parent, — this is
harsh and jarring to the feelings ; yet we know it is true, and may occur, it is there-
fore not objectionable in art. The passage of the Great St. Bernard by Napoleon,
or the combat between the French and Russians at the Devil’s Bridge, St. Gothard,
are also incidents that you would hardly call appropriate ; yet they may, when skil-
fully introduced, contribute to the grandeur or horror of the scene : the character
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
of the historical event being preserved, but the landscape still continuing predomi-
nant. When speaking of the passage of the Alps, the mind instantly recalls the
great picture of .Napoleon on his rearing charger by David, and the more recent
rival picture by Delaroche, who has placed him in meditating attitude on a mule,
and led by a guide. We feel at once that artistic license has been exceeded in the
former, but in the latter all is truthful and appropriate ; and the more we read or
know of Napoleon, the more we feel that, with his practical mind, he did positively
cross the Alps in this more unaffected way. Thus the realisation of grand natural
facts is the poetry of landscape.
WITH REGARD TO THE USE OF BLUE AS THE PRINCIPAL COLOUR OF FIGURES.
It will be seen from what has been already said, that I do not consider indigo,
when broken with yellow or red, as a real blue, and objectionable. On the contrary,
I consider the colour thus broken one of the most agreeable and common in peasants
and fishermen’s garments, appearing in this case to contrast most artistically with
red, and also passing into orange or even yellow without any harshness. The blue
that is objectionable is the cold Waterloo blue, or a true primitive, which, as ladies
declare, quarrels with nearly everything but a tawny complexion. Now, with regard
to Gainsborough’s “ Blue Boy,” brought so prominently forward in the Manchester
Exhibition, 1857, my opinion, after a careful examination, is, that Gainsborough has
shown his talent as a portrait-painter more than he has controverted Sir Joshua’s
theory. There is blue, no doubt, quite enough, — skilfully managed too ; blue on the
coat, breeches, stockings, shoes, and bows ; blue in light, and blue in shade : but,
after all, the main charm and beauty of the work is the rich, ruddy, and lifelike face
of the young fellow ; and the eye and imagination dwell on that as a solid piece of
flesh and blood, not at all cold or disagreeable. The question is, whether the very
coldness of his costume does not send you to his beaming face and roguish eyes at
once as the prime source of interest ; besides, the whole picture is painted with such
vigorous and powerful handling, and the blue is set-off with such fine rich russet
tones of sky and landscape, that the effect of blue as a cool colour is counteracted :
yet if one looks at the breeches and stockings, one doubts whether there is any par-
ticular harmony or reason that they should have been blue. Were he less ruddy,
I suspect he would remind us of the poor urchins we see coming out of some
indigo manufactory. But turn to Sir Thomas Lawrence’s “ Young Lambton,” in
the next room : you perhaps do not know or recollect that he also was originally
dressed in blue, and had a very different appearance ; for his small delicate face and
pale complexion had such a miserable effect, that he was entirely re-clothed in rich
crimson-velvet before he was exhibited. Depend upon it, those who attempt
Gainsborough’s experiment will need all his power ; and how few possess his talent,
we may see in the successful rivalry with Sir Joshua which he shows in his por-
trait of the charming Mrs. Graham, exhibited by the side of this bold youth.
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
With respect to contrasts in costume, what I have said is certainly very short :
but the theory is treated more at length in “ Simultaneous Contrasts ; ” besides,
every one who has studied one season from nature, or even in Langham Chambers,
knows that there are a hundred different ways of giving contrasts. For instance,
repose in position against action, strength and abruptness against delicacy and
refinement in form as well as in colour. Light delicate complexions are thus con-
stantly opposed to dark ; until, following the example of Sir George Beaumont, who
asked Constable where he would put his brown tree, we might demand, “ Where do
you intend to place your brown beauty 1 ”
ONCE MORE ON THE MEANS OF STUDYING THE FIGURES IN LANDSCAPE.
Artists should never allow themselves to weary of the study of real life, and the
incidents that express life and action. It is so much easier to allow our attention
and energies to relax and fall back to the quiet placidity of model-drawing, that we
do well to remind one another that the real position of the human figure, the real
expression of the passions of the human mind, are only seen for a moment when
the exciting cause is effective. They are not seen at all either in the face or limbs
of the placed model, skilful though he be, and you yourself have often remarked how
soon the model droops and distorts ; neither are they seen on the stage, trained
though the actors are to stereotype a substitute. Every one can tell a copy of a
stage-scene in a moment. How is this 1 Because it is unnatural. But when one
sees real action, the result of intense feeling, how it dwells on the memory ! I have
seen most of the best actors of the last thirty years ; not one of their personifica-
tions of the passions remains on my mind so distinctly as that of a poor woman,
whose child was run over in one of the back streets of St. Giles’s. I even recollect
her attitude and the wringing of her hands, an expression of grief I had never
before observed. I had thought it was a twisting of the hands closed together,
whereas the poor creature passed one hand over the back of the other alternately,
ending with a strong compression of the fingers. I believe this action is sponta-
neous and natural ; as the other day, when taking my children to the Zoological
Gardens, some person threw stones at the hippopotamus, to make him come out
of his bath ; when he immediately rushed out, and burst open-jawed against the
fence, trying to break it down. My little boy called out, “ 0, what shall I do?
what shall I do 1 ” and began to wring his hands in the same way. So, I say,
observe nature first ; get ideas from her ; then work the model, nude and draped, as
much as you like : but keep always in sight the reality, not the made-up attitude
or expression ; and however much you may study parts, never let them interfere
with the truth of the whole. Again, you recollect that group of ragged men, women,
and children, that I told you of, digging and clutching up the broken wood-pave-
ment in Holborn ; they, in their eagerness, attitudes, and grouping, would have
formed a far more natural foundation to begin upon, for your picture of the “ Ben-
FIGURES AND ANIMALS.
257
digo Diggings,” than all your models with, their true costume and implements.
There was more reality, more heart, more lifelike attitudes in this real scene than
your models could screw into their faces or muscles in weeks. Therefore I say
again, Take care of the real action and incidents first ; and in the search for these
I think you do quite right to move about and take sketches from real events, making
your first studies and pictures from them.
I must now tell you why, in nine cases out of ten, the model is resorted to for
study, rather than the real incident or attitude as it occurs. Firstly, because the
true energetic expression is so transitory, so evanescent we may say, that none hut
expert artists are qualified or prepared to s eke it. Secondly, because the study
from the model is a lazy way, allowing more time for dawdling drawing, and
making excellence in the minor points of finish and colouring compensate for real
vitality. This study may he more gratifying to the eye than either the real draped
figure or the antique ; hut I am inclined to agree with those who think that Etty
was not a good example, nor showed a pure and refined taste and love of art for
its own sake, in always repeating studies from the nude. When Gilchrist praises
him for never being absent from the life-study at the Eoyal Academy, although
scarcely able to bear the heated rooms and the great changes of air on his asthmatic
frame, I have thought whether Michael Angelo went through all this, or whether
good drawing of the bones and dissected muscles, with a careful study of the antique,
and afterwards the real life out of doors, as we intend to introduce it in our
pictures, was not in most cases sufficient ; for it is not necessary for all to excel in
painting naked figures or exquisite flesh tones. Etty might not be aware of the
feeling to which he largely contributed ; and this mode of study must have warped
his aim in art. There is more or less refinement even in drawing from the female
life - and you must have noticed this as you have seen Mulready* s careful studies,
formerly shown in the Society-of- Arts’ rooms, and since in the Art-Treasures.
You must have admired his refined and yet truthful studies ; they are far removed
from the reproach which may apply to Etty’s : for the same reason I prefer Bailey’s
conception of Eve to Dubuffe’s, and Bell’s nymphs to Pradier’s bacchantes. What is
copied so carefully from these models must partake of the character of the originals,
who possess nothing of the feeling of the incident or event ; and this deficiency will
be very visible in the work. This was very different in the time of the ancients,
or feven in the present time in parts of India and Africa, where it is the custom for
the people to go nearly unclothed. Place one of these women by the side of a
London or Parisian model, and see the difference there will be in attitude and
expression. It is for the same reasons that I consider the restorations of the "V enus
de Medici bad in taste, and prefer the statue in a mutilated state. Therefore,
when in modern sculpture, a brazen sort of indelicacy is presented, it offends me
artistically, and makes me see the great difference between the best old Greek
marbles and such modern works.
s
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LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
With regard to the size of figures in landscapes, — a most important point, and
one which apparently gives you great anxiety, — I venture to remark, although
there is much in art that cannot give an account of all it feels or does, if you were
a figure-painter as Wilkie, Collins, Mulready, &c., you would draw in your figures,
and suit your landscape, the smaller portion, to them. If, again, you were a land-
scape-painter, like Turner for instance, you would knock about your figures like
bits of wood or colour, just to make them suit your purpose, or heighten the effect.
So you see the education and previous study of an artist will generally determine
for him which part of his picture he should make the focus of interest ; it is only
in certain cases, when an artist is of the hat species, hovering between landscape
and figures, that he feels any difficulty. Look at Hook’s pictures : he can paint
figures and landscapes equally well ; hut I much doubt whether his pictures pos-
sess only one focus or predominating point, like Webster in figures or Linnell in
landscapes. Many have remarked that they would gladly mystify some of his
exquisitely-finished middle distances in order to throw the focus of attention more on
his figures. You say Cuyp always sacrifices his landscape distances and skies to his
cows, having breadth and repose in one portion of his picture, and strength and
opposition in the other ; also you instance Rubens’ landscapes as being truly land-
scapes, although he could paint the figure so well ; so that probably he felt the
necessity of putting some control upon his powers. I view it thus, when the figures
are to be the chief interest of the picture, then the landscape should be broad and
tolerably undefined ; but when, on the contrary, the scene as a landscape predomi-
nates, then the figures should be just the size to serve as a scale and set it off ; and
your observation that when a group of passengers in a street are sufficiently distant
to allow a clear space of pavement and road to be shown first to the eye, gives a
very good idea of the proportion they should hold. But if they are too large, or
approach too near, then the street-scene as a picture vanishes, or the eye does for
you what you must do for your picture, — unfocus the one and focus the other.
You say that “ it is never contended by the most strenuous advocate for con-
tinued atelier-study that this can supersede the observance of real nature.” I be-
lieve not ; but I maintain that those who pass some of their best hours, and give
their best labour every day, to one kind of study, will at last see nothing hut what
arrives to them through that medium, and will eventually become disgusted with
the crudeness, abruptness, or want of grace in natural attitudes ; and will so carry
their mode of study about with them, that even their most rustic peasants shall be
formed and posed like Junos or Dianas : and this is what was formerly remarked
of Christal’s Welsh lassies, beautiful as they were ; but what is worse, they may
lack some of the comparative innocence and freshness of rustic life. I prefer placing
the model out of doors in the same light, even sunlight if possible, if the effect in
the picture is to be sun-lighted. Light transmitted through glass, and reflections
from various objects in the atelier, must materially affect the tones of the figure.
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
259
SECTION XL— CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
ITH a view of affording the student as
much assistance as possible in the pre-
sent work with the smallest amount of
labour on his part, the subject of colour,
in its application to landscape-painting,
has been treated in the most simple man-
ner, avoiding all those short and technical
expressions in which artists indulge for
the sake of brevity, but which are little
understood except by those in constant
communication with them. The author trusts that this mode of proceeding,
aided by numerous diagrams and examples, will now have so far removed
the difficulties obstructing the onward course of the student, that, having
acquired a due knowledge of the nature of the materials employed, and an
efficient dexterity in handling them, he will have leisure to search into the
causes of the extraordinary and beautiful effects of the contrasts of colour
seen in nature, and to trace the sources from which they arise ; and that, in
transferring them to his paper, he will not only be able to imitate them with
accuracy, but also to apply his representative pigments in strict conformity
with the laws governing the relation of colours with each other.
A mere faithful copyist of nature may, no doubt, succeed in producing
a perfectly correct representation of the various modifications of colour in
a natural scene ; but to accomplish this he must use his brush from begin-
ning to end in the immediate presence of the effect to be conveyed ; his
first wash and his last glazing must each be applied in exact imitation of
the actual landscape ; and when, after laying aside his work from fatigue or
other interruptions, he resumes his study, he will require that every minutijg
of atmospheric appearance, light, &c., should be identical with that of the
previous day ; because, from alterations of the light and many other causes,
he will find the effect and tints will have changed, tending to confuse and
s 2
260
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
mingle those delicate variations of colour on the exact representation of
which his complete success depends ; even as a slight movement of objects
submitted to the photographic process suffices to destroy the truthfulness
of the picture.
Frequent study from nature, attended with all these precautions, is most
valuable, and cannot be too highly recommended to the beginner as the
best training to which he can subject himself, and indeed as the only school
in which the attainment of perfection is possible : but it is evident that, if
no education either of the eye or the mind accompanies such study, the
student must remain a mere servile imitator ; and when the combinations
or contrasts of nature are no longer before his eyes, he will be utterly des-
titute of the power of adding a tint or a wash in accordance with the prin-
ciples of harmony. Happily, however, this is seldom or never the case :
the mind examines, combines, and arranges by a process of its own, even
when not cognisant of the laws already acknowledged ; though this, in the
majority of instances, is attended with needless labour and expenditure of
time.
To prevent this groping, as it were, in the dark, and to bring the expe-
rience of other minds to assist the student in reducing his crude impressions
into order, some attempts are here made to explain the rules regulating
the production of one colour on the eye by the action of its opposite, and
the different power of contrasts produced by colours of various degrees of
intensity.
We have referred before to the instance of that part of a yellow sand-
bank seen in bright light, tending to produce an appearance of purple on
the parts left in shadow, and to like occurrences : these effects being well
ascertained facts, it is evident that education may teach where such opposi-
tions would take place in nature ; and hence, under what circumstances the
artist must avail himself of them in his representations, when, as is fre-
quently the case, he has to supply from memory the inevitable deficiencies
of his sketches. We say inevitable ; for few indeed would be the number of
works produced if, as in the studies above alluded to, every touch had to be
applied within actual view of the scene under representation : on the con-
trary, the greater part of most landscapes is painted under the influence of
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
261
a vivid recollection, when the mind, being fully imbued with the nature of
the effect to he produced, is guided by known rules in applying colours
of such a nature and in such proportions as to give a corresponding effect
to the picture.
The term recollection must not he confounded with imagination : the
latter, in sketching from nature, is of course inadmissible ; the practised
eye retains the full impression of the scene on which it has dwelt, hearing
in mind the various parts making up the whole ; and the hand accustomed
to the use of the brush, and directed by the judgment in the selection of
suitable colours, conveys to the drawing the impress of truth by painting
from the image still vividly present to the mind’s eye, though no longer
visible to the physical organs.
It is not every artist who can give a reason for his almost invariably
using certain colours in connexion, or in juxtaposition with certain other
colours ; his knowledge may have been imbibed almost imperceptibly to
himself from a careful and constant observation of nature, and may often
seem to have come intuitively. But the amateur, who is not supposed to
devote his time and energy so entirely to the one object of succeeding in
art, will do well to take advantage of every aid to diminish his labour ; he
should study the laws proved by observation to govern the effect of all
colours or tints in relation with those appearing near them.
Notwithstanding, however, the encouragement the student receives from
the feeling of power that knowledge of this kind will convey, he must regard
it as merely the rudiments of a universal language which will enable him
to read, and in some measure to understand, the principles that govern
these natural effects.
Having by these preliminary studies obtained some definite idea of
colours, and become acquainted with their appearance, whether in the pure,
in the simply mixed, or the complex condition, as shown in the primary,
secondary, and tertiary colours (Plate 3) ; and having acquired the power of
recognising them when seen under the influence of different kinds of light
and shade,— the student must now be prepared to examine them and their
effects on each other, either in juxtaposition or when contrasted in every
possible degree of purity, variety, and quantity ; for on his intimate know-
262
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
ledge of contrasts or oppositions will depend the beauty, harmony, and force
of his pictures.
Should he possess an attentive and observing mind as well as a quick
and sensitive eye, he will from the commencement have perceived that
colours gain or lose in a very great degree, according to the situation in
which they are placed with regard to others ; and that in some cases their
real hue can scarcely he recognised. Consequently the success of his prac-
tice will ultimately rest upon his thorough knowledge of those oppositions
and contrasts which exert the greatest influence on each other, whether the
effect is produced by repetition, by simultaneous, or by consecutive appear-
ance ; he must also become aware of the degree of sensitiveness possessed
by his own sight, and thus be prevented from diverging into irregularities
which would result from a want of such important knowledge.
By contrast, colours either gain or lose in the power which they exercise
on the eye. To examine this effect, we must take them in their simplest
form, and even in the first instance confine ourselves to white and black,
the representatives of light and shade.
When these are placed side by side, as in Plate 23, Fig. 1, we find that
each is rendered more powerful : such a contrast has been called simulta-
neous, because each colour acts at the same time upon the other. The
alterations and modifications are indeed so extensive and so important, that
it is here necessary to consider some of them more carefully, although they
have been mentioned in the Section on “ Light and Shade.” The most im-
portant point is, the effect this juxtaposition has on the apparent strength of
the tone, more especially at the point of contact. When we examine several
narrow shadows of different degrees of intensity, hut which we are aware
are each quite flat, or take several strips of paper of the same neutral gray,
hut of different depth of colour, and place them side by side, the middle of
each shadow or strip will not be altered, hut the edge next the lighter tint
will appear darker, and that in contact with the darker tint lighter ; thus
producing an effect of concavity in each, while the whole will resemble a
fluted column, with the light more on one side than the other. If so great
a modification takes place in flat shadows, or in neutral gray tones, how
great must be the alteration in the appearance or relative value of colours
1
2
3
LEIGHTON, BROTHERS.
©©OTl&MK ©If 0©lL©m
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
263
with the additional effect of the complementary colours produced by their
contrast in juxtaposition !
The next description of contrast claiming our attention is the successive :
this refers to the complementary, or accidental, colours which appear when
the eye has been fatigued by regarding colours in a strong light, and has
been spoken of in Chapter I. Section III. It should be clearly understood
that these colours are not only visible to philosophers, or to those whose
eyes have been trained to ob- red
serve colour, but are easily seen
by all who will take the trouble
to observe the effect that takes
place in the eye when pressed
in the dark, or when closed
after looking either at the sun
or at a strong colour in sun-
light. To make this more evi-
dent to the student, it will be
advisable to place before him a
diagram in the form of a circle,
showing the principal colours
with their complementaries. In
this circle (Fig. 1) the three primitives are separated by the secondaries,
which they form by mixture, or by being placed over each other : thus the
complementary of red will be green, that of blue orange, and that of yellow
violet or purple. If the primitive colours pass into the secondaries by gra-
dations, their complementary colours will be subject to as many modifica-
tions as there are in the original colours. To render this balance of colour
still more intelligible, the three primitives with the three secondaries have
also been disposed in an equilateral triangle in Fig. 2, which clearly shows
that the complementary colour of a primitive is composed of the secondary
colours formed by a mixture of the two remaining primitives ? thus green,
a mixture of blue and yellow, is complimentary to red; violet or purple’
made with red and blue, is complimentary to yellow ; and orange, made
with red and yellow, is complementary to blue. In whatever form these
264
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
contrasts are considered, the student must endeavour to attain a clear idea
of colours and their complementaries.
In order to enable the student to prove by actual experiment that com-
plementary colours do become visible to every one, with rare exceptions, four
of the most striking si-
multaneous contrasts are
shown in Plates 24 and
25. These diagrams, al-
though small, produce
great effect on the eye ;
they can also easily be
copied, and the experi-
ments enlarged or varied,
by cutting out figures of
the same proportions in
gray paper, and pasting
them on tinted grounds
two feet square. It may be necessary to observe, that, after looking on a
figure or wafer of any strong colour, whether primary or secondary, the
complementary colour will always appear surrounding it, even when it is
placed on white paper ; but in this case the quantity of light reflected by
the white ground will cause the appearance of the complementary colour to
be indistinct, and therefore it is better to use a gray of a neutral character
for the reception of the complementary colours ; and the ground colour
should be extended, that it may have a more powerful effect on the eye,
while the figure should be narrow, so that the complementary colour should
affect the whole of its surface. These experiments may be made in sunlight,
common diffused daylight, or lamplight. To some persons they are obvious
at one time, and by one kind of light ; to others they become more quickly
visible in light of a contrary description. The author finds the ground colours
produce the effect described soonest when they are slowly moved about from
side to side, or up and down, and the quantity of light upon them varied.
Only one diagram should be seen at one time, the other on the same sheet
remaining hidden by the blank paper divided for that purpose.
YELLOW
SmUFJLttiStHlEKIDlirS (BCD) HIP IRAS IPS,
■
BLUE CAUSES THE GRAY TO APPEAR ORANGE
SmurfcE AH3E0WS ©©HU* EASES,
GREEN CAUSES THE GRAY TO APPFAR RED.
rQtflT'Qhlfl +rv tha Q-Hiijn*-
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
2C5
It would be as well, in experimenting upon these contrasts in large, to
place one of the figures cut out of the same gray paper on a ground of white,
that it may be used as a reference, and the real colour of the figure may be
seen. In the accompanying plates the neutral gray is exactly the same in
each diagram, being printed with the same colour. In Plate 24, Pig. 1,
the ground colour is yellow ; the neutral gray will in this case appear violet
or purple. In Fig. 2, the blue ground will cause the gray to appear a
golden orange, although the tone of the gray on the figure in some degree
deducts from the distinctness of the complementary colour. In Plate 25,
Fig. 1, the ground being orange, the figure appears blue ; and in Fig. 2, the
ground being green, the figure appears red. When these experiments are
tried on a large scale, the complementary colours will appear strongest
round the edge of the figure ; and it has rather a spectral appearance, the
colour approaching in some degree those beautiful tints seen in the pris-
matic spectrum.
Carrying out the results of these experiments in our practice with re-
gard to the colours or tints of flesh when examined closely, we shall doubt-
less find that many of the most beautiful and delicate of the tones on the
human face are referable to the effect of simultaneous contrasts : thus at the
edge of shadows on a skin of warm rosy colour is observed a cool gray,
and sometimes even a cool greenish tint, these becoming more particularly
visible when the surface is rounded like the face. Where the light passes
into half light, or where the light and shade meet, there will be these cool
tones ; and if the complexion is red, they will, from the complementary
action, have a tendency to green, however unnatural such a tint may be
considered on the face. If the complexion incline to yellow, or orange
rather, the edge of the shadow will incline to blue. Some portion also of
these peculiar gray tints may be owing to the semi-transparent nature of
the skin, as well as the degree of gloss on its smooth surface, which reflects
the cool lights of the sky. When these slightly green or gray edges of
shadows are put in, they must be decided in their form and position, and
pure in tone, or they will lose all effect. If dirty or undecided, it is almost
needless to add they are worse than useless.
It is a most improving study to examine a skilfully painted panorama
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
266
close at hand, where we may see these simultaneous contrasts carried into
effect in a bold style and on a large scale. In these works of art every
colour must be true and forcible, and rather exaggerated, to allow for the
blending of the hues by aerial perspective, as well as the operation of con-
trasts ; so that here we have excellent opportunities for observing their im-
portance. Many of these pictures are so skilfully dashed in, and the oppo-
sitions of colours arranged with so much ait, that one regrets when they
are destroyed — as they generally are — to make room for others of fresher
interest.
These chief contrasts once understood, it will be easy to comprehend
the more complex combination produced by the eye when, after looking at
a certain colour, and acquiring an aptitude to see its complement at the
same time with a new colour, the sensation produced on the eye is not a
simple one, but the result of this new colour and the complementary of the
first. Both are for the moment added, as it were, together. Much of that
harmony of colours so admirable in nature must be the result of this prin-
ciple, which not only blends them together by the laws of light strictly ap-
pertaining to themselves, but also, by the exquisite sensibility of the visual
organs, still further harmonises them to the sight of each observer. Thus a
distant line of gray mountains, seen from a road-side, with a foreground of
cool forest green, would appear tinted with crimson ; if the foreground is a
rich yellow meadow, or bright sandy beach, the distance would be tinted
with violet ; and if seen over the surface of a blue sea or lake, it would
take a decided orange tone. In a country like England, in which green
tones so largely predominate, we cannot observe these striking effects so
frequently as we could wish ; but when we see mountains bare of all ver-
dure, and rocks of different hues, — such as are to be seen in going up the
Sound of Sleat, on the west coast of Scotland, — and look at them across a
blue expanse of water, we at once recognise the wonderful and mysterious
effect of the complementary colours. If these are seen with the added glories
of an autumn sunset, it will readily be confessed that there is little necessity
for the landscape-artist to travel to Italy for the purpose of studying colour.
The difference of power existing in different individuals, in respect to the
full appreciation of all these delicate variations of colour, has been spoken of
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
267
in Chapter I. Section IV. Assuming, therefore, that all who have proceeded
thus far in this study possess good and sensitive organs, we will at once pass
on to the explanation of the effect produced on the eye by any colour when
viewed singly or in the simplest opposition, such as black against white,
when such contrasts are supported by the neutral gray described in Chap. I.
Section I, being a mixture of powdered charcoal and white chalk. A tint
of this kind, possessing those rare qualities of neutrality which allow it to
combine with all the rest, whether in harmony or in contrast, gives impor-
tant aid in the appreciation of these effects, increasing the brilliancy of some
and subduing the harshness of others. Owing to these properties, it has
been used as a ground to set off and enhance the colours in Plates 3, 4, and 23.
After looking some time at a colour, the retina becomes fatigued, and in
some degree incapable of seeing it as it is. In order to regain its normal
state, it must either rest or look at the compensating colour.
In contrasts, therefore, we gain the greatest power by bringing the ex-
tremes together, not only as regards their relative force in chiaroscuro, but
also as concerns the juxtaposition of colours with their compensating equi-
valents. At the same time it must be borne in mind, that a continual recur-
rence to such extremes would fatigue the eye as much as a monotonous
sameness, and that, in nature, these extremes are rare and of limited extent.
As an instance of the fatigue alluded to, and of a temporary loss of power by
the eye, M. Chevreul shows that when a person has twelve or fourteen pieces
of red cloth to examine, the first six or seven will appear more brilliant than
the last ; and that to regain the full power of discrimination, it will be ne-
cessary to look at the complementary colour — green, when the remaining
pieces will appear of their true brilliancy. To bring this more home to the
landscape-student, let him call to mind the satisfaction that the eye feels
when, after wandering over greens of various tones, it at last meets with a
brilliant spot of red or scarlet. This is so well known, that it has almost be-
come proverbial that no green lane is without its old woman in a red cloak.
After acquiring clear ideas on this point, we must study what effect the
contrast of different colours, varying in degrees of intensity, has either in
enhancing or diminishing the power of each ; when it will soon be perceived
that the union of the qualities of light and shade with those of colour pro-
268
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
duces the strongest effect : thus light -toned yellows contrast powerfully with
deep-toned purples, and light-toned greens with deep-toned reds or maroons.
If the colours placed near each other are complementary, additional power
is gained by the effect of the complementary action.
To examine carefully the effect simple opposition of colour produces, we
should turn to Plate 3, Fig. 1, in which the three primitives are arranged
so as to form the secondaries where they cross : in this situation they at once
assert their importance, the secondaries appearing far below them in force ;
but in Fig. 2, the secondaries assume the same importance in comparison
with the tertiaries. The orange in Fig. 1 looks dull when seen with the
yellow ; but in Fig. 2, the same colour printed at the same time looks bril-
liant when contrasted with the quieter-toned tertiaries : it has also in this
diagram the additional contrast of the complementary action in reference to
the green, a red orange being complementary to a green blue.
To show the effect of contrasts more clearly to the student, Plate 23,
consisting of rude blots of colours, has been prepared ; to which we will
briefly allude, leaving the pupil to make experiments from which he may
draw inferences for himself.
In Example 1, white is contrasted with black; the simplest of all con-
trasts, but open to abundant variations by the power of diluting the black so
as to form a gray. The beautiful effects we see in fine engravings or in
photographic pictures, are produced by a combination of neutral tones.
Again, in nature we often see white in large quantities in the sky, or on
buildings, without being struck with its power ; but let a white horse or cow
appear in the foreground, where it is contrasted with the deeper tones of
colour, and at once we understand the value of the contrast.
Example 2. Yellow is here contrasted with white and black. All the
primitive colours gain more or less by their juxtaposition with white and
black ; and although in these blots of colour no attention has been paid to
quantities, or any great care taken with the varieties of tone, it will at once
be perceived that yellow contrasts more powerfully with black than white.
Yellow abounds in nature in broken or modified tones more than perhaps
any other colour, but it is difficult to introduce in a pure state into any
work of art without producing gaudiness.
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
269
Example 3. Red in light pure tones, dappled in with white, is very har-
monious ; and the effect, when observed in a clear and varying complexion,
is well known : it is more nearly allied to white than to black, and presents
this peculiarity, that objects may possess much positive colour as red, and
yet not detract in any great degree from the light.
In Example 4, blue is seen to be very harmonious when contrasted with
white ; the sky presents frequent occasions for observing such effects when
dappled by the cirri, or bright white clouds. It is, however, necessary to
observe some caution in introducing it in pictures, as it partakes largely of
a cold character, and is more nearly allied to shade than light.
Example 5. A light green harmonises well with white : in this example
it is contrasted with the complementary colour red, which adds much power.
This contrast is the most decided, and at the same time the most pleasing,
in nature. Both colours hold the middle position with regard to light and
shade ; in addition to this, red, the most positive of the primary, is contrasted
with green, the most perfect of the secondary colours.
Example 6 displays orange in conjunction with blue, and is set off by the
addition of a little white and black.
Black has nearly the same power of enhancing the light colours as white,
but it is by contrast rather than by bringing them to a focus ; it also increases
by analogy the effect of the darker. With this view, it has been retained in
the plate more frequently associated with the dark than with the light
colours. These experiments are followed in Bigs. 7, 8, and 9 by contrasts of
white and black with the secondary colours ; and in Bigs. 10, 11, and 12 by
their contrast with the tertiary hues. The student, in making experiments
of this kind for himself, should bear in mind the remark in Chapter I.
Section II., namely, that only small quantities of pure colours are found
in nature ; therefore the proportion of the tertiary colours ought to be
greatly increased beyond that which they exhibit in the three last figures.
In landscape, with the exception of a portion of blue in the sky, the dresses
of rustic figures present almost the only opportunities for the use of pure
colours ; and these being generally small in extent, more frequently serve as
a focus of colour than constitute a prevailing tone.
If we wish to produce a quiet harmonious effect, it will be necessary to
270
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
pay attention to the harmony of analogy, and so pass, by almost impercep-
tible steps, from one colour or tone to another. The pure pigments employed
and represented in Plate 4 afford abundant opportunities of arriving at this
result ; for as none of them are true colours, or to be considered as types of
the primitive colours, we can, in order to produce the desired change of
tone, allow ourselves great latitude in their use, without resorting to the
constant mixture of other pigments, — a practice which always tends to
produce a muddiness, and to destroy that clearness so desirable to be
maintained throughout every picture. Various pigments are now properly
employed to represent the same colour in nature under different lights or
effects, and therefore it is unnecessary to resort to the obsolete custom of
putting in the general effect with neutral gray — although artists still retain
the use of washes of delicate and varied grays over the sky, distances, and
middle parts of the picture, as they conduce to aerial qualities ; but the effect
of light and shade is left to be put in with pigments possessing greater
variety of colour and more removed from black, as there is so great a choice
from which to select, that not only the extremes of colour, but light and
shade, can be reached by a gradated scale, the whole being in perfect har-
mony, unattended by that loss of light occasioned by the former practice.
But in order to receive the full benefit of this extension of our materials,
it is essential to avoid confusion, or want of appreciation of the different qua-
lities possessed by pigments. The student, therefore, should classify them
according to the primaries to which they are most nearly related : the simplest
manner possible is the best. Plate 4 shows some of them arranged in a gra-
dated scale ; but those who would become intimately acquainted with their
qualities will take each in turn, and try effects by mixing it with others of a
contrary nature. Powers and tendencies are thus brought out that are often
very surprising. These experiments should be made on separate sheets of
paper, accompanied with written notes, and the most successful mixtures
selected ; they would do more to advance the student in colouring than the
most careful copying of elaborate drawings. In these trials yellow, and all
broken colours in which it predominates, should be mixed with the different
blues, when greens of various qualities will be the result ; the purest yellow
and blue producing of course the most perfect green ; some of the other greens
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
271
nevertheless being the most useful to the landscape-artist. Among the quali-
ties brought to the student’s notice, will he the relative degrees of trans-
parency or opacity in the different pigments employed : for instance, by the
mixture with blue, it will be observed that Vandyke brown and sepia differ
considerably ; although they are sometimes confused in the mind, Vandyke
brown having more yellow in its composition, and consequently producing a
greener hue. Again, brown madder, a useful pigment, but with undefined
name when mixed with the blues, will be shown in reality to belong to red
rather than yellow, as its name would indicate, and consequently the mixed
tint will be gray or purple. Black will also be found to produce a greenish
tint with all yellows, thus indicating its affinity to blue. This methodising
is besides advantageous in giving students some idea of the relative force of
different pigments, indicating those most suitable to the distance and fore-
ground.
Should the student wish to give a more vigorous effect, and yet preserve
the harmony of his picture, he must consider colours as they appear under
different influences. The harmony resulting from a predominating coloured
light has already been treated of in Chapter I. Section III. This result is,
indeed, so universal, that colours are rarely seen of their true tone : thus,
under the warm glowing light of the setting sun, green may become crimson,
brown may turn yellow, and blue, with the addition of the yellow rays, will
become green ; so that in introducing such a light, the greatest care must be
taken that every part of the picture may come under its influence, other-
wise violent contrasts, opposed to the truth of nature, will inevitably be pro-
duced.
But whether the student essays to produce an harmonious effect by
analogy of colour, or by contrasts of complementary colours, or even by
joining the two capabilities in the same picture, one thing is certain he
must have breadth , — the same kind of breadth and simplicity in coloui that
has hitherto been his aim in chiaroscuro. Neither the cold nor the warm
colours can be subdivided or scattered about his picture ; they must either
be gradated and mellowed by each other, or else so judiciously contrasted
as to combine in producing a concentrated effect in the proper place.
It does not follow that any exact proportions either of warm or of cold
272
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
colours can be assigned as producing harmony ; if it were so, all pictures
would be alike, and artists would become mannerists : a certain degree of
choice is not only allowed, but desirable, provided that the artist is always
true to nature. In the study of the colouring of nature, we must recollect
that we see colours during the execution of the picture in very small portions
at a time, and under very limited effects ; whereas in nature our vision roams
over a large expanse of colours, broken into variations of the tertiary hues by
the effect of the light, air, and the reflection of the cool grays and bluish
tints of the clouds and sky. To imitate this reduction of the force, we must
guard ourselves against the introduction of harsh or crude colours, and rather
reduce in strength the colours we employ, reserving for our points of greatest
interest the contrast of the purer colours, when they have in consequence a
very powerful effect. The Dutch masters afford some excellent examples of
this art ; and Reynolds has particularly pointed out this school as the best in
which the young artist could study the management of his colours. In
gazing on a beautiful sunset, we never see that out of harmony ; but when
we are putting on our crude pigments, forgetful perhaps of the light which
dominates, we are apt to offend against the principles of nature. In Plate 26,
some arrangements of colour are shown by rough blots, without pretend-
ing to any correctness in drawing, quantities, or even exactness in tone ; and
notwithstanding the difficulty of representing such rough blots in printing,
they will serve to explain the principle under consideration. In Pig. 1, the
warm colours are massed together in a simple way, — the yellow and blue
small in quantity, the red large and contrasted with its complementary
colour green. Pig. 2 might represent a group of fruit, flowers, &c.; a large
mass of warm colours, gradated in some degree from white passing into
cold, which is repeated in a slight form in the sky. In Pig. 3, the warm
colours are kept on the figure ; the brightest and most advancing about the
head, where they are contrasted with white and black. The whole mass is
surrounded by cooler tones, which are brought to a focus on the jug. In
Pig. 4, the arrangement of colours is reversed, the cool being kept in a mass
in the centre, surrounded by warmer tones of different degrees of intensity.
In both these modes of using colours, — namely, that of producing harmony
by placing them, slightly varied, side by side, and that of contrasting some
PLATE 26.
LEIGHTON^ BROTHERS.
MSMSHm ®J? C®M)TO<
V ■
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
273
of them with others known to increase their power in consequence of the
complementary action, — attention must be paid to the preservation of breadth ;
avoiding, however, insipidity and dullness on the one hand, or crudeness and
vulgarity on the other. One important point ought to be noticed, namely,
that if the harmony resulting from blending or floating various pigments into
each other be employed, it is only necessary to preserve the general purity of
tone ; but if the effect is to be gained by simultaneous contrast, the colours
must be extremely pure, and well considered in reference to the scale of
contrasts. They will then increase in power as they approach one another ;
but if they are allowed to mingle or float over each other, the effect will be
lost : thus, if red and green are pure and in contact, a brilliant effect will be
obtained ; whereas if they are mixed, nothing but a dull heavy green will be
the result. In studying the effect of simultaneous contrasts, it is better to
err at first on the side of crudeness, and trust to the influence of a more
practised eye for refinement of the tones ; if the principle is right, this will
come afterwards.
Attentive study of contrasts will also teach the pupil to look for them in
nature on a wider scale, and cause him to be less anxious to paint objects
entirely of that colour which he knows them to be : for example, on referring
to Chapter I. Section III., he will find that he has been told that the natural
or local colour of any object is entirely subservient to sunlight, and thus a
red brick house may appear yellow in sunlight and purple in shade. If,
through timidity or deficiency of knowledge of these effects, and also, per-
haps, from the want of a good study from nature to help him, he should
begin by painting the whole house red, and afterwards put in the shadow,
he would lose all the purity and effect of the contrast. Again, if, according
to the old style, his anxiety to secure the light and shade caused him to put
it in with Indian ink, a similar result would be the consequence.
The effect of drawings prepared with these neutral grays is the same with
that of coloured prints or lithographs ; they are imperfect in principle, and,
of course, as pictures they have a feeble result. Where, however, the desire
is to give a general harmonious effect without aiming at strong contrasts,
such as the tone over the distance or middle distance of a subject, the author
does not advise leaving the paper pure, in order to try for these strong con-
T
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
274
trasts ; lie would rather secure breadth, with a sufficient attention to the
general tone, with the first broad washes, and afterwards trust to the addition
of the complementary colours in the shadows. As an example of the use of
studying these effects from nature, he adds one of his notes on this point :
December : Passing in the train to Rugby. — “A tolerably clear sunny morning ;
the sky in some degree crossed with filmy clouds ; a decided change of colour near
the horizon, where a warm grayish vapour arose. The light being on the right hand
as I looked back, cast the shadow of the steam in a line parallel to the railway ; as
it passed over the country, I had an opportunity of testing the truth of the observa-
tion, that the shadows should be put in at once of the accidental colour to the colour
in light, without reference to the local or natural colour of objects. Remark the
shadow of the steam, which, in gushes or rounded masses in perspective, passes, now
over green meadows or rich brown ploughed fields, now over russet haystacks or the
seared leaves still remaining on the oak. Does it completely hide the colour of these
objects ? By no means. We can most easily distinguish, not only the green of the
meadows, or the brown of the ploughed land, but even the variations in colour caused
by the fallen leaves on the grass, or the cooler greyish blue of the little plashes
of water in the furrows of the arable land. This local colour must be repre-
sented. We have to determine, therefore, whether the shadow shall be painted regard-
less of all these variations, or whether a portion of the rich local tones should be put
in with the first generalising tints, and afterwards the shadow added with a clear
transparent tone of the right accidental colour : but notice, although the sunlight
is rather warm, or not white light, it is not by any means a rich yellow, and the
shadow is not a very distinct purple, but approaches a neutral gray, in the same
degree that the light approaches a cool, yellow. We have thus more of the sober
opposition of black and white than of yellow and purple ; and it is worthy of
remark, that these sobered contrasts are more likely to be observed at this time of
the year than richer and more striking effects. A general tendency to haze, and
that of a cool nature, has doubtless contributed to moderate these contrasts. The
colours, as well as the lights and shadows, are equal in intensity, consequently there
is no opportunity for the more striking effects to be produced.”
It now becomes necessary to say a few words on the balance of colour ;
a point in every case interesting to the student, and one difficult to deter-
mine by stating any definite proportions. Probably the first lesson he will
learn is, that certain quantities of one colour balance certain quantities of
another of equal intensity. All this it may be well to know; but if no
more is learned, how little use would this prove to any artist, more particu-
larly to a landscape-painter ! Let the student call to mind any fine land-
CONTRASTS OF COLOUR.
scape in which he could map out and proportion the exact quantities of pure
colour balanced by any other colours ; or, if he will, let him take the dia-
gram in Fig. 1, Plate 3, and see whether, when he has obtained certain por-
tions of the primitive colours, he can cut them into pieces and produce an
artistic effect with them. Undoubtedly, in experimenting with the coloured
rays of light, he may unite them, and compose white light: but uniting
these representatives of colour will only produce blackness ; or when placed
side by side, with the strictest attention to proportion, they will only remind
one of a kaleidoscope pattern or a harlequin’s jacket. There are many other
things necessary to produce pictorial colouring. Variations of colour are
as numerous as those of form ; and as no two or three figures are placed in
all compositions, even though they may be the foundation of all forms in
geometry, — such as the right line, the square, the circle, — but are infinitely
varied by broken lines, curves, ovals, &c., so, in colour, the three primitives
are equally varied, blended, harmonised, and opposed under every conceiv-
able effect of air, light, shade, &c.
It has already been observed, in Chapter I. Section III, that although the
three primitive colours, however nicely proportioned in size and intensity,
do not produce a harmony that the eye loves to dwell on as a picture, yet, if
we multiply the contrasts by repeating them in small quantities, observing
the relative proportions, and add white and black, giving to the whole
sufficient distance to produce aerial perspective, we shall have an harmonious
effect. It was doubtless by these means the Egyptians produced so much
effect in their temples with so few colours. Passing from these early and
perhaps crude colourists to the colouring of the Moors, as shown in the
Alhambra, and exquisitely reproduced by Owen Jones at the Crystal Palace,
a most beautiful effect is afforded by the skilful adjustment not only of the
three primitive colours, but also of light, shade, and cast shadow ; and the
way in which this is effected is very extraordinary — the scrolls, ornaments,
and designs which cover the whole wall are not only coloured, but are raised
in relief about an inch ; the return sides being painted in red, the upper
surface having the other two primitives only, combined with wThite, the shade
and cast shadow supplying the dark or black. We have thus the three
primitives with white and shadow in ever-varying quantities, illuminated
T 2
276
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
with the warm southern sun ; and having abundance of reflection of green
from the garden and sparkling water, it must have presented a most harmo-
nious blending of colours.
In addition it may be remarked, colour is equally suited to balance form
or light and shade — one quality or power may agreeably balance another ;
and the student should be reminded that many of the observations made in
Chapter III. Section II., on “ Light and Shade,” apply as well here. Pure
and strong colours, in small portions compared to the rest of the landscape,
must be kept to the foreground ; for the mists and vapours contained in
the air, combined with the different colours and hues given by reflections,
refractions, &c., prevent them from being seen in any degree of purity in
the distance. When we add to these the effect of light of a predominant
colour, which completely changes all local colour, we see how difhcult it is
to prescribe any certain proportions of each colour, without entering into
the details of depth of tone, light, shade, &c.
In concluding these notes on Contrasts, it will be evident to the student
that the power of producing a powerful and harmonious effect will depend,
not so much on the strength of the individual colours, as the relative
positions they occupy in his composition : thus great brilliancy may be
the result of a skilful combination of the tertiary hues, while nothing but
heaviness and dullness might show itself with all the primary colours
placed in a pure state on his canvas ; or, if he steered clear of this Scylla,
he might fall into the Charybdis of violent and incongruous discords. To
avoid this, let him give the subject steady thought and careful attention,
and follow it up with a close study of nature under the most favourable
aspects. Proceeding thus, we doubt not he will be amply repaid by the
correctness and pleasing effect in his pictures.
CONCLUSION.
SECTION XII.— CONCLUSION,
handling of
The captives. the brush and
mode of working employed by water-
colour artists have been noticed in for-
mer parts of this treatise ; a few remarks
on this style, which it is supposed the reader has
chosen in order to carry out his views of nature and art, may be here
added. The mode once adopted, the student will naturally feel desirous
of using the means at his disposal with all the power of which they
are capable. With this view, he should, in addition to the most deter-
mined perseverance in overcoming every obstacle, call to his aid the
knowledge and experience of those who have already achieved success in
a similar career, carefully guarding against that feeling of impatience
which, spurning steady work, seeks some rapid and, as it were, sleight-
of-hand way of attaining its object. Above all, he must constantly bear
in mind that water-colour painting is par excellence a mode of using
transparent pigments on a white ground ; consequently any attempt to
engraft the beauties or capabilities of other styles totally different in this
important quality cannot end otherwise than in a loss of the chief beauty of
water-colours. In like manner, some sculptors, not content with the refined
278
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING
beauty and semi-transparent delicacy of Carrara marble, and sighing for the
attractions of colour, have sacrificed these qualities by covering their statues
with a coating of white, in order to superadd colour. Again, some oil-
painters, under the idea of obtaining an aerial effect, have mixed their pig-
ments for the sky and distance with turpentine, or other vehicles so volatile
that the paint peels off from want of cohesion. In the practice of water-
colours likewise, modes unsuitable to the general style have been adopted in
the hope of gaining power and rapidity ; among these, the immoderate use
of an opaque body-white over the whole drawing, in the shadows as well as
on the lights, is the most objectionable. Instead of attempting to combine
these two incompatible styles, causing, on the one hand, the loss of the
power of glazing, and on the other, the sacrifice of all the beauty of trans-
mitted light, it would be better to change the vehicle and materials alto-
gether, and, when using opaque pigments, to select those already prepared
in oil, which admit of great strength, depth, and transparent glazings. The
employment of opaque colours with water, size, or gum as vehicles, although
undesirable in some instances, is admirably adapted for panoramas or large
scenes, where the distance from which the painting is viewed gives trans-
parency, and where the effect is aided by modified lights thrown upon the
scenes from different directions ; but when carried throughout a water-
colour drawing, it only substitutes the opacity of an absorbent, and often
impure white ground, for well-sized white paper. Let it not be supposed
that the author considers it wrong to use any power belonging to another
style which can be advantageously introduced, or wishes to decry a style by
saying it is illegitimate ; on the contrary, he thinks an opaque white like
Chinese white gives the extreme lights on such objects as leaves, water, &c.,
with great effect, and also is now and then of great assistance in scumbling
over the distance. Lest he should be considered prejudiced in these views,
he begs to add the opinion of Mr. Twining ; a gentleman who, as an ama-
teur, has studied the art both philosophically and practically, and whose
judgment therefore may be accepted as unbiassed. In his Philosophy of
Painting , he says : “ It would be almost humiliating art to mention
some of the absurd and preposterous means which have been resorted to for
what is sometimes considered an effective style of imitation. The trickery
CONCLUSION.
270
or the novelty of the process wins approval, in a degree which is propor-
tionate to the extravagance of the means employed rather than to the
worth or merit of the result ; nevertheless, so easily is the pleasure which is
derived from astonishment confounded with that which we owe to merit,
that our admiration is not withheld. There is at times hut a very slight
distinction between the expressions ‘ How beautiful!’ and ‘ How extraordi-
nary!’ however widely the conditions which may call for the one may differ
on other occasions from those which give rise to the other. Thus it is that
in proportion as the style becomes lower, the difficulties to be contended
with diminish ; till at last, a child who has an unusual share of daring
might almost seem a prodigy, from the facility with which he produces sur-
prising results.
“ The highest styles of art are those in which no assistance is borrowed
from preparation, either in the materials or in the method employed, from
regularity in the mechanical process, or from trickery in the manual part of
the labour, and in which no colours are extended or concentrated in order
that some effect pleasing to the eye may be substituted for the truths of
nature. The styles in which success is most uncertain, as it is most credit-
able, are those in which the colours used have the degree of brilliancy, trans-
parency, or substance, which is required in order to convey the most truth-
ful impression of the subject, and where the forcibleness of the imitation
depends consequently on substantial and positive workmanship, and not on
the fascination of the beholder. In this respect, oil-painting seems to claim
the preference over other styles ; but water-colours, independently of other
merits which oils do not possess, come very near to it when, by suqpessive
colouring and glazing, the white of the paper has entirely disappeared under
a rich and transparent body of colour.”
Mannerism in art may be described as any peculiar way of treating or
handling pictorial subjects, the work being executed in one unvaried manner,
arising doubtless either from the limited ideas of the artist, or a want of
facility or variety in the way in which he embodies them. This defect, from
whatever cause it may arise, the student should endeavour to avoid in the
early part of his practice : in doing this he may derive assistance from study-
ing with attention paintings by the best masters ; but while continually
280
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
comparing liis works with theirs, he must always recollect that nature is the
fountain-head from which all must draw their inspiration.
There is a material difference in the manner in which artists carry out
their ideas of nature ; some possess powers of one kind, others excel in
qualities of a different description. One who has the valuable power of
grasping the main features of a scene, and retaining them in his memory
until he' can embody them, may not possess the refinement or delicacy in
the execution required to work up his picture to the full effect that may be
desired ; in which case, when seen close at hand, it will always present an
unfinished appearance. Another, paying undue attention to the execution
of the portion which immediately engages his pencil, may lose entirely or
deteriorate the higher qualities of effect ; he may not himself perceive this
deficiency, but a judicious critic coming in with a fresh eye would at once
observe it, because, without predilection for any particular part, his first
thought would be to look for the more important qualities. There should
be a variety in treating subjects as well as a varied manner in producing
effects ; otherwise peculiarities will arise which will increase year by year,
until the productions of the artist can be distinguished in the galleries at a
glance, and he is justly stigmatised as a mannerist.
In order to gain, therefore, the greatest amount of improvement from
the examination of the works of others, the student should not copy the
productions of any one artist for any length of time, but examine in what
qualities they each excel ; some may show much vigour and facility in pen-
cilling, others may succeed in rich and harmonious colouring, while a few
may possess the rare talent of embodying fine effects with the above quali-
ties. When by these studies an enlarged idea of art is obtained, he will
not express his own views of nature in the style of any other master, but
will have formed a manner of his own, derived from the training he has
thus received combined with his constant comparisons of nature ; and the
more strength and vigour he possesses, the more will his mode of treatment
differ from all who have preceded him.
A dry cold manner, when carried to the extreme, is even more objec-
tionable in colour than in outline ; in the latter it may be excused in the
attempts of the beginner, from its preventing a looseness and indecision, so
CONCLUSION.
281
objectionable even when sketching from nature ; but in colour it only pro-
duces harshness and crudeness, joined to feebleness in the effect. It is
generally the result of a want of boldness in laying on the colour in
sufficient quantity ; the opposite extreme arises from using too much, and
so loading on the colour until all becomes heavy and opaque. Experience
in the use of his materials, added to a knowledge of their effect, will
prevent the young student from falling into these errors.
If the student has been well instructed in the elementary parts of art,
his hand trained to move with freedom and grace in all directions, whether
holding the pencil or brush, and if at the same time he is aware of the
power belonging to both instruments, his mode of execution will be bold and
rapid, and, from an appearance of ease in the execution, convey pleasure to
the spectator. Still his chief aim should be so to use this power that,
without drawing attention to itself, — as if the touches or strokes of them-
selves were beautiful, or as if they showed great boldness and facility,
and without any apparent effort, — he may give to each portion of his
subject that quality which it ought to possess : thus trees, grass, rocks,
water, or clouds will all be distinguished with facility, each being at once
recognised, not only by its colour, but by the other qualities belonging
to it, — such as hardness combined with roughness of texture in rocks,
looseness and leafiness in foliage, liquid transparency joined to the appear-
ance of motion in water, while clouds will give the idea of vapours floating
in the air. All parts of his work, in fact, should have their peculiar
properties or character imparted to them, causing them to hold the same
position in the picture which they do in nature, and thereby giving the
additional charm of a graceful execution.
It now but remains for me to conclude ; indeed, I am warned by the
great increase of plates and matter in this edition that it is possible to
be too diffuse, too elaborate. Enough, I hope, has been explained of the
principles on which the practice has been founded, and a sufficient number
of examples given of that mode of painting in water-colours which has
hitherto been adopted by the British school. During a close study of the
various sections treating of the different parts of a picture, there is some
282
LANDSCAPE-PAINTING.
danger lest the earnest student should forget what is its real object. This
dwelling on the execution or handling, on foregrounds, the washing- in of
skies, the stippling, the hatching, will never enable him to make pictures,
if the main incident or focus of interest be forgotten or obscured. And
here lies a great difficulty ; for this important point once lost sight of, the
most exquisite drawing, colouring, and execution become only obtrusive :
it is often for this reason that pictures painted entirely from nature are
not the most successful. Very few persons have the power of keeping the
parts which they with such minute care and attention are painting in their
relative position ; and still fewer like to pass the brush over and sacrifice
details or colour, which have been gained by great exertions, when it is dis-
covered they are not required in the picture : yet all should recollect that it
is possible for the hand to be exceedingly busy and skilful, whilst the mind
is altogether dormant. I trust, however, that while with much anxiety
I have endeavoured to explain to my readers the practice of water-colour
painting, I have yet made even more evident the great and high principles
which should guide that practice.
INDEX
Accessories, explanation of, 44.
Air, explanation of, 47.
Atmosphere, explanation of, 47.
the, 149.
Background, explanation of, 44.
Beach, the colour of, 194.
Black, ivory, description of, 59.
Blotting-in, description of, 120.
Blue, French, description of, 60.
cobalt, description of, 60.
pure, not always agreeable, 246.
as a principal colour, objection to, 255.
Boats, mode of drawing, 204.
Breadth, essential, 271.
explanation of, 40.
great, how obtained, 89.
Brown, Vandyke, description of, 59.
Brush, handling of the, 113.
Brushes, what description of, best suited for
general use, 70, 172.
kind suitable for foliage, &c., 172.
Buildings, a knowledge of perspective essential
to draw well, 181.
the colour of, 185.
— ■ mode of handling to represent, 185.
tones of, 185.
Cadmium, description of, 56.
Cattle, the colours of, 251.
Chalk drawings, to fix, 67.
Chinese white, when of use, 128.
Chrome, orange, description of, 56.
Clothing, the colour of, to be selected, 245.
Clouds, 150, 206.
how to give the effect of air and space
to, 150.
description of the different kinds of,
152.
reflections of, in water, 206.
Colour, on the nature of, 7.
examination of, by the pri m, 8.
not in the object, but the light falling
on it, 10.
Colour, proportion of the different rays in the
prismatic spectrum, 11.
local, explanation of, 43.
subordinate to form, &c., 76.
how to obtain great depth of, 118.
body, on the use and abuse of, 124.
opaque, to be used with caution in
foliage, 172.
not to be represented pure, 269.
the position of pure, 275.
balance of, 274.
— the advantage of, doubtful in sculp-
ture, 279.
Colour-blindness, instance of, 34.
Colours, opaque and transparent, the action of
singly and combined, 14.
the primitive and compound, 17.
description of the primary, 18.
the artistic division of, 18.
description of the secondary, 20.
description of the tertiary, 21.
the harmony and natural contrasts
of, 25.
the complementary or harmonic, 26.
the effect of sunlight on, 29.
different powers of discriminating, 34.
broken, explanation of, 47.
harsh or crude, to be rejected, 275.
affected by a predominating light,
276.
no exact proportions can be given,
275.
- subject to great changes, 31.
the primitive, combined with light
and shade, 275.
Composition, 75.
Conclusion, 277.
Contrasts, harmony caused by, in dresses, 246.
the study of, important, 259.
colours gain or lose by, 262.
the complementary colours, 260.
the simultaneous, 261.
the simultaneous, affect the flesh
tones, 265.
284
INDEX.
Contrasts, examples of the effect of, 272.
notes on 274.
Dragging, description of, 123.
Effect, explanation of, 45.
mode of studying in small, 91.
should be seized at the time, 175.
Execution, explanation of, 48.
described, 280.
Eye, the education of the, in colour, 35.
Figures, action and grouping of to be sketched
from nature, 247.
offer opportunities for pure colour, 243.
rustic, opportunities of studying not
to be neglected, 247.
the disposition of, 248.
the size of, in landscape, 248.
size of, notes on, 258.
good drawing essential, 249.
in landscape, howto commence, 250.
rustic, 247.
notes on, 253.
mode of studying, notes on, 256.
Fire, the light of, 232.
Flesh, the tones of, attractive, 244.
the tints of, 251.
Focus, explanation of, 46.
Fogs, character of light of, 233.
Foreground, explanation of, 44.
study of, described, 173.
Foregrounds, the nature of, 173.
notes on selecting, 175.
the handling of, 174.
means to vary the texture of, 177.
vegetation in, important, 179.
Fountains, want of effect in the Crystal-Palace,
207.
Gamboge, description of, 55.
Glaciers, varied in colour, 237.
Gradate, to, 122.
Grauulation, if lost, to restore, 215.
Grass, mode of drawing, 179.
Gray, Payne’s, description of, 59.
the neutral, used as a ground, 267.
the neutral, not to be used all over a
drawing, 273.
Grays, aerial, description of, for mountains,
&c., 216.
Handling, explanation of, 48.
Harmony, explanation of, 41.
in landscape, dependent on the ter-
tiary hues, 22.
| Ice, to represent, 237.
i Indigo, description of, 60.
Introduction, 3.
Keeping, explanation of, 44.
Key, explanation of, 46.
Lake, crimson, description of, 57.
License, the painter’s, 253.
Light, how to prevent masses of, from being
isolated, 101.
i Light and shade defined, 87.
I the study of, assisted by pho-
tography, 88.
best manner of securing, 91.
time of day best adapted to
first studies in, 104.
Line, horizontal, position of, 80.
Lines, use of, in directing the attention, 79.
Lightning, the appearances of, 234.
Madder, rose, description of, 57.
purple, description of, 58.
brown, description of, 58.
Manipulation, explanation of, 48.
Mannerism described, 279.
Materials, description of, 50.
Mists, useful in giving distance, 234.
different to rain in effect, 206.
i Model, on the study of the, 257, 258.
| Moon, comparative size of, 241.
new, position of, with regard to the
sun, 241.
Moonlight, illuminating power of, 241.
tones for, 242.
comparative degree of tone in, 242.
Motion, explanation of, 45.
in objects to be observed, 248.
| Mountains, form of, to be given with decision,
214.
outline to be varied, 214.
first washes for, 215.
Notes, utility of taking, while sketching from
nature, 222.
examples of taking, 223.
Orange, Mars, description of, 57.
Panoramas, useful as studies, 266.
Paper, what kinds of, best adapted for water-
colours, 61.
qualities of, important, 62.
mode of stretching, 63.
two different qualities of, used in the
same drawing, 64.
INDEX.
285
Paper, to tint, 68.
tinted, when objectionable, 68.
Papers, tinted, the use of, 64.
those to be selected, 65.
Perspective, importance of, 77.
aerial, of great importance, 209.
given by scumbling, 212.
how to secure, 211.
Phenomena, pictorial observations on, 229.
time to study, 231.
Photography, not always to be depended on,
145.
Picture, a, analysed chromatically, 12.
Pigments, rarely pure colours, 14.
colour of, as seen by different lights,
29.
not distinct in nomenclature, 35.
position on the palette or box, 50.
description of the qualities of, 52.
moist or in cake, both useful, 52.
in general use, described, 53.
Pink, brown, description of, 58.
Plate 1, description of, 129.
Question 5. Colour, where the most positive,
139.
6. Shade and shadow, the differ-
ence, 139.
i — — 7. Colour, bright, how to keep in
distance, 139.
j 8. Colours, to avoid diuginess or
crudeness, 140.
| 9. Colour, how to get the artistic
effect of, 141.
| — 10. Colour, any, to avoid, 141.
. 11. Water, the reflections in, 141.
I 12. Red cloak, why introduced, 142.
13. Colour, crudeness of, how to
avoid, 142.
14. Colour, vigorous, to retain with
light and shade and good effect, 143.
15. Trees, simple modes in the study
of, when to be adopted, 144.
I 16. Studiesfrom nature, labour some-
times ill-bestowed, 145.
| 17. Study, how to reap the greatest
advantage of, 147.
2,
99
131.
3,
y9
133, 261, 268.
4,
99
133.
5,
114, 123.
6,
9)
67.
120, 135.
— s!
121.
9,
y
135.
— 10,
99
153.
11,
162.
12,
9)
163.
13,
99
169.
14,
99
171.
lf>,
99
185.
16,
196, 237.
17,
203.
18,
207.
19,
235.
20,
239.
21,
240.
22,
246.
23,
262.
24,
264.
25,
99
265.
- 26,
»
272.
Question 1.
Cool colours, how to arranj
use, 136.
2.
The
primaries, when to
duce, 137.
3.
The
primaries in contact
their complements, 137-
4. Shadow, colour of, 138.
Rain, the effect of, useful in varying form, 238.
the effect of, to be shown, 239.
Rainbow, description of, 231.
Rays, when visible, 233.
Red, not easily distinguished by some, 36.
light, description of, 57.
Yenetian, description of, 58.
Indian, description of, 58.
Relief, explanation of, 45.
Retina, the fatigue of, 267.
Repose, explanation of, 44.
Rocks, the character of, 189.
the general colour of different forma-
tions, 193, 195.
with trees at Fontainebleau, 198.
on Dartmoor, 237.
Ruins, their character to be preserved, 184.
Sails, colours of, 205.
Scale, explanation of, 43.
Sentiment, explanation of, 46.
Sepia, description of, 59.
most suitable for brush practice, 113.
Shade, explanation of, 39.
Shadows, cast, darker than shades, 94.
useful in showing the nature of
the surface, 94, 102.
crossing the picture in straight par-
allel lines to be avoided, 103.
Sienna, raw, description of, 56.
burnt, description of, 56.
INDEX.
286
Sketches from nature, how to avoid repeating
the same, 222.
Sketching, a list of favourite spots for, 227.
from nature, 217.
objects suitable for
first attempts at, 218.
qualities requisite for,
219.
three principal points
to be observed in, 222.
notes on, 223.
Sky, the, 149.
Spectrum, description of the, 9.
use of the, in examining the colour
of pigments, 11.
Snow avalanche, 235.
to imitate, 235.
Steam, light on, 233.
Stippling, description of, 119.
Studies from nature in colour should be large,
221.
Style, 278.
Styles, some to be rejected, 279.
Subjects for pictures, caution in the choice of,
226.
Sunset, how to produce the effect of, 117.
Taking out, explanation of, 43.
Terms, explanation of those used by artists,
38.
Thatch, the colour of, 188.
Tint, mode of laying a gradated, 114.
mode of laying a flat, 114.
Tints, dirty, explanation of, 47.
half, explanation of, 39.
priuted gradated, to be rejected, 69.
aerial for skies and clouds, 154.
for foliage, 169.
Tone, explanation of, 39.
breadth of, explanation of, 41.
Trees, importance of, in landscape, 157.
method of studying, 158.
Trees, affected by the soil, &c., 159.
Trees, the branches of, 159.
the character to be preserved, 160.
studies in chalk useful, 160.
local colour to be represented, 161.
mode of commencing in water-colours,
161.
the foliage of, not to appear black 1 62
examples of foliage described, 162.
system necessary to draw the foliage,
158.
the checkered shade of, 167.
stems of beech, described, 171.
Twilight, 239.
Unity, explanation of, 40.
Vehicles and Mediums, description of, 72.
Vermillion, description of, 57.
Vignette, description of a, 84.
Water-colour drawing, definition of, 15.
the style of, 171.
Water, the pictorial qualities and appearances
of, 199.
the colour of objects in, altered, 200.
the difference between reflection and
shadows in, important, 200.
the ripples of, 20 1 .
mode of commencing, 202.
tones of, 203.
in motion, system necessary to draw,
203.
Waterfalls, to draw, 207.
Waves, mode of drawing, described, 203.
White, oxide of zinc or Chinese, description
of, 54.
Chinese, how used on tinted paper, 66.
Wood, the colour of, 188.
Working, mode of, 113.
Yellow, lemon, description of, 54.
Indian, description of, 55.
ochre, description of, 55.
THE END.
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
1197 00662 5393
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